Awakening of the slumbering beast
by Saotome Kyuubi
Summary: During his fight with Haku, Naruto tapped into Kyuubi's chakra. Here he did something more. Starts on the day after the fight and goes from there. Will be NaruHina eventually.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 1: Dreaming of past memories

Sunrise was splaying a breathtaking panorama across the oceans surface. This however went unnoticed by a lone figure sitting at the end of the pier. _-Damn it! As if things weren't bad enough for me already, why can't I, just for once, get a break -_ Yesterday had been pretty bad, even if you took into consideration that they had pretty much accomplished their mission. No one had died but Sasuke had been seriously injured by multiple senbon needles that had hit his vital spots. Sakura, of course, flew off the handle and gave Naruto the worst tongue lashing ever. Seriously only thing that kept the tongue lashing from becoming a real, and quite brutal, lashing was Sasuke. Who in his incapacitated state diverted Sakura's attention from Naruto.

_-It really sucks to be me. And to think that I probably saved the whole team out there. But do I get any thanks? Hell no! I get viciously scolded by Sakura-Chan because I somehow obviously 'held' back her precious Sasuke-kun and thus caused his injuries.-_ Well, it wasn't all that bad. Kakashi-sensei had actually asked if he was alright and after giving him a once over had commended him on a job well done. Tazuna and his family had showered Naruto with thanks, something the boy was certainly not used to, for saving Tsunami and Inari. After they had settled in for the night, things had gone from bad to worse, which was exactly why he was sitting on the end of the pier, watching sunrise with unseeing eyes.

These very interesting musings were cut short however, by a hand that suddenly appeared on his shoulder eliciting a loud scream of "**KYAAAAAH!**" from the startled youth. Naruto turned around in a rush while yelling "Kakashi-sensei! Don't use your ninja stealth to sneak up on people."

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Um… Naruto, I wasn't trying to sneak up on you. I even called out your name a couple of times." Kakashi peered at the boy who was still trying to control his erratic heartbeat. His visible eye narrowed slightly when he noticed the troubled look on Naruto's usually cheery and carefree face. "Are you alright Naruto? I mean you've been out here for some time now and breakfast is ready…"

This statement caused a loud outburst of "**NANI?** Breakfast already, but I just came here." _- I must've spaced out or something... there's no other explanation. Well might as well tell him and face the music.-_ Naruto scrunched his face in a thoughtful pose and tapped the side of his nose with his finger. "Ano… Kakashi-sensei, I… umm… need to talk to you about yesterday and… well you know who." His words caused an instant reaction on Kakashi whose visible eye narrowed quite noticeably. He didn't give any other visible signs and only offered a nod of confirmation and told Naruto that they would speak after breakfast.

The 'super' bridge builder Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari were in a cheery mood. Overall however the mood in the breakfast table was gloomy at best. Sakura looked like she hadn't slept well, which gave her all the more reason to berate Naruto again for endangering the life of 'her' Sasuke-kun. Naruto, still mulling over the events of the night before and dreading the outcome of his talk with Kakashi, mostly ignored Sakura's speech. Until it was accentuated by a 'light' rap on the head by Sakura, who now was getting more pissed because she was being completely ignored. "Naruto you jerk. Don't you dare to ignore me when I'm talking to you" Naruto, wide eyed, was trying to sputter out a defensive reply when he noticed that it was being ignored as Sakura was back in her rant "…sleep a wink because I was so worried about Sasuke-kun…"

Shrugging his shoulders Naruto tuned her out and was again immersed in his own problems. Kakashi, the Jounin instructor of Team Seven, was thoughtful as well. He was going over possibilities as to what exactly did Naruto want to talk about. Certainly Kyuubi wasn't loose or in control of the boy. Best possible explanation he could come up was the same thing he wanted to talk to Naruto anyway. He had sensed Kyuubi's chakra on the bridge. It had been brief but still… and he was certain that the boy had felt the difference. Yes that had to be it. Naruto knew that the nine-tails was sealed in his belly and had felt, quite intensely he surmised, its chakra and now wanted someone to talk about it. There were of course other possibilities but this was the most likely scenario.

When breakfast was over there was yet another explosion of temper tantrum when Sakura, who had been on a low boil, was informed that she was to guard Tazuna-san while he was working on the bridge. "Sasuke-kun is seriously hurt so I need to stay here and look after him. Naruto should go and guard the bridge and make himself useful for once…" Sakura was stopped by Kakashis cool explanation that Naruto had used a tremendous amount of chakra during his fight and needed some time to recover and that only thing Sasuke needed was uninterrupted rest.

Naruto on the other hand had stayed uncharacteristically quiet through the entire exchange and observed the byplay between his team mate and sensei. The result of his observations was disheartening, Sakura didn't even care whether he was hurt or not. _-Sheesh, she really doesn't seem to care a whether or not I'm alright. Only that I'm somehow keeping her from Sasuke… and to think that I really had a crush on her too.-_ Consciously voicing the thought brought forth a revelation. He really didn't have a crush on the pink haired kunoichi anymore. Not that he didn't like her or anything but the infatuation was gone. He shrugged wistfully _-Probably that damn dream…Stupid dumbass fox, going through my entire life and taking me along for the ride-_

After Tazuna, with an irate Sakura in tow, had left to oversee the construction of the bridge, Kakashi led Naruto towards the area where Team Seven had learned chakra control in form of tree climbing. When they arrived he motioned Naruto to sit on a nearby log and asked "So Naruto, what was it that you wanted to talk about? Does it have something to do with…"

He paused, searching a proper word when Naruto spoke up. "Fuzzy… yeah I wanted to talk about Kyuubi, the seal and a whole lot of things actually." There was a moment of silence, after which Kakashi, in almost apologetic tone of voice asked if the seal was still intact. Naruto nodded in answer and then explained "The seal is still intact and… active. It's kinda hard to explain, but apparently this was supposed to happen…" seeing the unvoiced question in his sensei's eye he continued in a tired tone "The seal was activated… and now Kyuubi has woken from her long slumber."

Thoughts were racing circles in Kakashis mind _-The seal was supposed to… awaken Kyuubi? Her? Kyuubi is a she? How? When? The seal was supposed to…-_ Mustering his willpower he snapped back into focus. His entire list of possibilities as to why Naruto had wanted to talk was blown to hell. Then again he should have anticipated that as Naruto certainly lived up to his name as the number one ninja in surprising people. Focusing again on the matter at hand Kakashi began to run a mental list of scenarios ranging from the best to the worst… At the best Kyuubi was rapidly being absorbed by the seal and the whole ordeal would be over. At the worst… well, Kakashi shuddered, he really didn't want to think about the worst case scenario. Calming himself the Jounin reached for his Konoha Hitai-ate uncovering his single Sharingan-eye. In an even voice he ordered simply "Tell me everything. Leave nothing out."

Naruto was startled. He didn't know how Kakashi would react to his news. But to uncover his Sharingan, something that he only did when facing an enemy, was ominous to say the least. In a shaky voice he began to recount the events that led to the seals activation. "…then I saw Sasuke go down and that Haku guy started gloating so I kinda snapped. I don't know exactly what I did but I reached in to draw out every last drop of chakra so I could kill the bastard. That's when it happened I guess" His voice dropped into a whisper "Things went a little hazy but then I could feel this enormous amount of power that surged through the seal and into my body… I could have ripped Haku apart piece by piece. And I almost did because I was so mad at him."

Naruto hung his head in shame at this. He continued in a more subdued tone "After I calmed down the power seemed to flow back into the seal, but there was a small throbbing or well prodding of sorts. I guess it was stupid not to say anything sooner but everything was going on so fast that I didn't really have time. Besides it stopped soon enough anyway. The thing is I kept feeling something though, the presence of something… alien but still, familiar. It was weird. Anyway after we turned in for the night things went really weird…" Kakashi had to squash a sudden urge to strangle the boy for stating something like that. As if using demonic chakra to defeat your enemy wasn't really weird… Then again this was Naruto, the guy who carried around the most powerful demon ever, so maybe the usual standards didn't apply.

Naruto stared off into the distance looking effectively zoned out. Kakashi was about to prod him on when he continued his narrative. "Last night I dreamed. I saw my entire life go by in a flash… and I have to say it wasn't very pleasant." He frowned at the memory and the feelings that it brought up. The dream had been bad alright. The cold stares, the hatred, the numerous beatings, rip-offs and other cruelties he had been forced to live with his entire life. He had watched as the other kids in the orphanage got birthday and Christmas presents when he got nothing, how other students in the academy received extra lessons, instead of punishment, from the teachers if they failed in something. And he remembered the pain from every one of those injustices, now freshly imprinted into his mind. But there had been the good moments too.

The old man Hokage who had looked after him as often as his duties permitted. Iruka-sensei who had acknowledged him as Uzumaki Naruto, not as the demon Kyuubi. And there had been a memory of the Yondaime Hokage, of the words he had said to him… the trust he had placed in him. Kakashi too began frowning as he listened to his pupil tell about his life. He had guessed that Naruto didn't have an easy childhood but never had he expected the sheer amount of abuse the boy had been through. It was amazing that he was sane, much less civil. It also explained his lack of ninja skills. No sparring partner to practice taijutsu, no one to instruct him on the finer points of molding chakra and so on. This was certainly something he had to bring up with the Hokage the next time he spoke with the old man.

"The dream ended on the moment I reached through the seal. After that I started to… drift in a void or something. That's when she came to me, telling me that I had to wake up and then find my centre so that we could speak. She stressed that it was important and that time was running out… Then I woke up." Naruto cleared his throat and glanced expectantly at Kakashi. He was not disappointed as the Jounin was completely immersed in the story. "Afterwards I just laid there for a few moments trying to regain my bearings and then went outside and ended up sitting on the pier. And then I decided to do as Kyuubi told me and began my… ummh meditation exercises."

**---- Flashback ----**

Naruto was trying hard. He tried to remember what they had said about meditating in the academy. Finally he gave up and decided just to relax and calm his mind… or something. And then suddenly he wasn't on the pier anymore. Instead he was sitting cross-legged in a dark, dank hallway. He stood up and surveyed his surroundings. It was desolate to say the least, there was at least an inch of murky water on the floor, and more water was dripping from broken pipes on the ceiling. In the distance there was an eerie glow and the alien presence that he had felt was coming from that general direction. After wandering in the corridors for a few minutes Naruto finally arrived at, what he surmised, was his destination.

He could only gape at the massive gates that had, he noted, a scrap of paper with the word seal written on it. But what really unnerved him was the enormous presence that loomed behind the said gates… Presence that was in a form of an animal, an animal with nine swaying tails to be exact. There before him was Kyuubi, the most powerful demon ever to walk the surface of the world. Naruto struggled to compose himself. A task which came almost impossible as he suddenly became aware of two large eyes, crimson eyes with slit pupils, that were focused on him. Resolutely squashing thoughts of his own insignificance he put up a brave face and called out in what he hoped was 'cool' and 'Kakashi' like manner. "YO! You Kyuubi? You wanted to see me."

There was a moment of silence as the eyes seemed to bore holes into his skull **"What do you think brat? Have any other resident demons in you that I don't know about?" **The reply dripped with sarcasm. Before Naruto could respond the voice continued **"And yes I wanted to talk to you…"** Naruto however was not intimidated by the tone, he had after all heard sarcastic and condescending remarks all his life, and was now getting the same treatment from the one ultimately responsible for his screwed up life.

"Now tell me just exactly why should I want to talk with you, this is all your fault anyway." Kyuubi tried to interject but Naruto was on a high gear and could not be stopped "And just who the hell do you think you are, going through my memories like that you bastard…" She blinked then blinked again. This certainly had never happened before, never had she in her long years seen a mortal stand before her like this, screaming bloody murder and demanding answers. Usually most mortals began to quiver when they faced even lesser demons let alone one of the Bijyuu. And here the brat stood, angry, his initial fear forgotten. Granted the brat carried within him the strongest of the demons and had during her slumber absorbed some of her power, but still… **_-The kitling shows promise, he's had a hard life but still he's loyal to those bastards, if it was up to me I'd devour them in a heartbeat… Now how do I stop this irritating rant?-_**

Kyuubi drew in air and then let loose a deafening roar. A roar, that effectively cut of Narutos list of profane names for the demon and actually sent him lying on his back in the inch deep water. Kyuubi roared again this time with less force bringing the dazed boy out of his shock. **"Now you listen to kit, we don't have much time and you can berate me all you want after you get your facts straight. But right now we have business to attend to…"** Having Narutos undivided attention she proceeded to explain the inner workings of the seal to the bewildered boy. After about fifteen minutes of explaining, arguing and yet more explaining they had reached an understanding.

"So basically you can't do jack about it then? The seal is now active and is draining you. You want revenge against the people who summoned you to this plane and attempted to possess your powers, then set you against Konoha where you were sealed in me? And in return for this revenge you surrender more of your body to the seal and 'tweak' my body a bit, give me lessons and all that stuff…" Naruto glared at the demon "And you say that you could actually just do this 'tweaking' anyway so I really don't have a say in it… But you chose to warn me because you thought it was 'nice'. Heart warming concern coming from a demon."

Kyuubi growled at the boy and slammed her claws against the gate **"I tell you brat… It wasn't my choice to attack your Konoha. I actually considered Konoha to be one of the more decent ninja villages around. But as it is I chose to warn you beforehand so you may warn that sensei of your so we, and I mean we as in you and me, won't get killed before you have time to explain it all to him. You see kit… You die equals I die. And I definitely don't want to die just yet… Besides you aren't completely human anymore, not with the seal transferring my power to you when I lay in my slumber, so consider this as the next step. Besides there are some cool things you can do with a little help."**

Then there was a strange sound emanating from the cage. A sound that Naruto suddenly recognized as giggling. The fearsome and omnipotent Kyuubi no Kitsune was… giggling. The blonde ninja sweat dropped "Umm… Ano… Are you… giggling?" The large eyes blinked at this, then a vicious smile accentuated by a row of gleaming white teeth came visible **"Yes… I was simply anticipating the fear those ignorant peasants that have mistreated you all your life will feel when they find out that you have the Queen of Foxes backing you up."**

Naruto began to tremble visibly. The Queen of Foxes, that would imply that… "You are a **GIRL**?" The question was answered by a another set of giggles and growl. Then there was a POOF in the cage and suddenly by the gates stood a female, humanoid but not quite human. Naruto noticed several things at once: a) She had fox ears on top of her head, which he noted was covered with red hair. b) She had quite a voluptuous figure that was simply oozing seductiveness and well… sex. c) She was quite naked. d) He felt something warm trickling down his face… _-Now that has never happened before. OH NO am I turning into a pervert like all the other adults.-_ His nosebleed, as slight as it was, and his frantic expression didn't go unnoticed by Kyuubi who 'pooffed' back into her original form.

Once again baring her fangs she inquired in a seductive tone **"That answer your question…hmmm? And don't worry, even though you are quite amazing a specimen I wouldn't, even if it was possible, try to seduce you. It would be too much like masturbation. But now get out of here and go find that sensei of yours."** At the dismissal Naruto suddenly found himself sitting at the pier and noticed to his amazement that it was dawn already. He began once more ponder about the events of the night and the problems of his life in general. Also he did on occasion wonder what that 'masturbation' thing that Kyuubi had mentioned was.

**---- end Flashback ----**

Kakashi stared, he simply stared. Here he was listening to what could only be described as a product of an active imagination, with the exception that it wasn't. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Now Naruto, what exactly is Kyuubi going to do to you?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Well she said that she'd let the seal to take some of her essence and transfer it into me, specifically in the eyes, ears and nose. She also said that she'd put some of her power into me in general increasing my physical abilities, something that I already have experience in. She also said that there might be some visible changes, especially in the eyes which I understand should become slitted." Kakashi was about to ask if Naruto was really ok with this when he was cut short by the Genin, who stated that if Kyuubi was right then there was nothing they could do about it, and that the adults in Konoha feared and hated him whether he had slitted eyes or not. Seeing as there was no way to argue against that logic Kakashi relented. Moving on he then grilled Naruto for details on the actual 'tweaking' and gave up soon after as Naruto really didn't understand the finer mechanics of the process, nor had Kyuubi bothered to explain them. As there was nothing really left to do he asked his final question "So then, you ready for this?"

The silence stretched. Then Naruto slowly shook his head to indicate negative. In answer to raised eyebrow he said in a slow almost fearful tone "Kakashi-sensei, there was something more in my dream that I didn't tell you about… something from the very beginning. I saw the Yondaime and he… he gave me something and said some things and I just need some sort of confirmation. I mean, you were his student so, you knew him right?" Naruto drew a breath and then reached into his shirt pulling out a golden chain with a locket attached.

Kakashi's reaction to the sight was immediate, he inhaled sharply then promptly fell to his butt. Blinking at the older mans reaction Naruto began to fear the worst, maybe the locket was a mark of a traitor or something. Kakashi was, however, fixated on the locket dangling from Naruto's hand, he then quickly reached into his own shirt and produced a similar locket. "That locket, belonged to the Yondaime Hokage, I had thought it was destroyed along with his body… Where did you get it?"

The question was delivered with a dosage of menace that promised instant pain if the answer was wrong. Naruto gulped and proceeded to explain "I've always had this, it's the only thing that really is my own. In the dream I saw Yondaime looming over me… He slipped the locket on me and then said some… things…" Naruto hung his head, only to have a hand slip under his chin and raise his face upwards, face to face with now almost gentle looking Kakashi… He gulped again and quoted "Good luck, be brave… and remember that your mother and I love you son… Forgive me"

It was some time before either could move. Kakashi because of the shock from such a bold statement and Naruto because Kakashi was holding his head steady. Finally the older man broke from his reverie and grabbed Naruto's locket with one hand, his hand with the other. He needed to know and there was only one way short of asking the Hokage and if he had chosen to keep the boy a secret… there were implications for deeper reasons. "Open it."

Naruto shook his head. "I tried, but the trigger seems to be broken so it won't open"

Almost growling with frustration Kakashi all but screamed "Channel chakra into your finger and try again you…you…" Naruto blinked, than proceeded to do as ordered. He could see the Jounin tensing as he placed his finger on the locket and then with an audible snap the locket popped open, after which the Jounin promptly collapsed. When he had regained his senses Kakashi offered his own locket for Naruto to open up. After they both held to their respective lockets in their hands Kakashi spoke up "These lockets were made by Arashi-sensei, one for him and one for his wife. Only they or their offspring could open these lockets. You recognize of course your father, the Yondaime Hokage, Kazama Arashi."

Naruto gave a court nod at this, focusing instead on the picture of a woman who had been his mother. He noticed that the woman was quite beautiful and had a silver hair that reminded him of someone… Nah couldn't be could it. "And the woman on the picture is Ayame, your mother… and my sister." He sat on the ground and buried his face into his hands, weeping. Naruto was again shocked speechless, a common occurrence for the day. Hell, he could deal with seals, awakening demons and even with finding that he was related to the Yondaime… but to be related to Kakashi-sensei.

It took another fifteen minutes before Kakashi regained himself. He slowly pulled down his mask revealing unmarred face that strongly resembled Ayame, his sister and Naruto's mother. Naruto could only stare. His sensei, the feared copy-ninja Kakashi, had a face of a poster-boy. Really he could see why the Jounin chose to wear a mask, it would deter potential fan-girl hordes and no one would really take him seriously as a capable ninja if he looked like that. Naruto chortled and then suddenly was rolling on the ground laughing at the now bewildered Kakashi. "Ah Naruto… this is a serious matter. I mean I'm sorry, I was told that you died with Ayame-neechan… I, I've been blind not to see how much you look like Arashi-Sensei." Seeing that Naruto was still out of it he placed a light kick on the boys side effectively snapping him out of his fit of laughter "Hey you… I'm trying to apologize here."

There was a dumbfounded look in the boy's eyes, which was suddenly replaced by understanding as the pieces fell into place. "If you feel sorry for me then save it. I don't need your pity. And if you didn't know who I was then you didn't. Only thing I really want to know is, would you have taken me in had you known?" Naruto spoke the last part clearly and with an even voice, while observing the Jounin carefully. There was a plethora of emotions that played across Kakashi's face settling finally to a mask of determination. He didn't reply but decided to kneel in front of the boy and hold him by the shoulders. Without a word he simply nodded. This gesture was returned in kind by Naruto who flashed him a real smile, not the usual happy-go-lucky smile that he showed the world, but a real one that indicated true happiness… He had after all found family.

In the ninja world, especially during missions, moments of happiness were a rare commodity. Naruto was reminded of this by a sudden pulsating feeling from his stomach. He quickly composed himself and shook Kakashi from his reverie as well. "Kakashi-sensei… I think it's starting soon. Kyuubi said that my eyes and ears might be a little sensitive after she's done with me, so she said that I should be placed into a dark and quiet place after I pass out from the exhaustion. I have a pair of sunglasses in my backpack, so if you could put them next to me or something when you leave me, it would be nice."

Kakashi was going to inquire more about the passing out from exhaustion part which Naruto had neglected to mention before but all inquiries were cut short when Naruto suddenly cried in pain and keeled over. It was not a nice thing to watch, even for someone who had seen the horrors of a war between ninja villages, or the destruction wrought by Kyuubi. Naruto curled into a fetal position while whimpering in pain. Soon enough the whimpers turned into moans and then into blood curling screams that echoed through the forest. Finally after what seemed like hours Naruto went limp and passed into blissful unconsciousness. Shaking his head wistfully Kakashi picked the unconscious boy on his arms and headed back towards their temporary home.

Naruto was hovering on the edge of consciousness. He was becoming aware of the multitude of sounds and smells that assailed his ears and nose. As he was about to open his eyes he remembered Kyuubi's warning about the sensitivity of his 'new' eyes. Suddenly he snapped awake, keeping his eyes shut and almost yelping in amazement from the multitude of things he could sense. He could clearly hear Sasuke breathing a few meters away, smell his breath. Concentrating he began to go through the sensations. He noticed that he could focus on sounds. He could hear Tsunami cooking downstairs. His own heartbeat and the heartbeat of Sasuke and, quite surprisingly Inari who was stationed outside the door, probably guarding the room where his hero was resting.

The smells were no less interesting, though very much less appealing. He himself, and Sasuke he was happy to note, reeked of sweat and dirt. The room, which to casual eye seemed clean, was actually anything but. There was also a mouth watering aroma of cooking food that was wafting from downstairs. He could identify the smell of frying fish and cooking rice but the other smells eluded him. Shrugging he decided that he would probably spend the rest of his days cataloguing new smells.

Before he could even start to open his eyes he suddenly 'heard' Kyuubi **"Enjoying yourself I see… don't let the multitude of new smells overcome you, most smells are fairly common and you'll learn to associate them soon enough. As for your eyes, I suggest you try to find those sunglasses. It might make the experience less… painful"**

Naruto almost blew up at this and decided to scream back at his mind "YOU SON OF A … err YOU BITCH… YOU SAID THAT IT WOULD HURT A **LITTLE**… I'VE NEVER BEEN IN SUCH A PAIN IN MY LIFE. AND YOU SAID I'D PASS OUT FROM THE EXHAUSTION"

He could almost feel Kyuubi shrugging **"Well it hurt a little, at least I was in slight pain… then again you are weak. And before you ask, yes we can now communicate directly. But as it is, please wear the sunglasses and then come see me." **Naruto shot a parting curse inwards, but when he received no reply, he decided to do the demon's bidding. Feeling around he found his sunglasses, which he promptly put on, and to his delight a glass of water. Feeling thirsty he quaffed the water only to find out that among other things his sense of taste had been enhanced as well. Showing the fact aside he tried to relax and soon enough found himself in a vastly different place.

Cracking open one eye and feeling only slight discomfort he soon opened his other eye… and almost popped both eyes from their sockets. The corridor, previously dark due the broken light fixtures was now bright as day. The amount of details he could make out, in what seemed bright environment, made him decide that wearing sunglasses had been a good idea. He started towards Kyuubi's den in brisk pace and soon enough arrived at his destination.

He felt Kyuubi's eyes on himself the moment he entered the room. There was something in the gaze that made him uneasy. It was if… he was being evaluated. Following instructions from the demon he turned around once, then again. Naruto began to grow frustrated and was about to yell when Kyuubi simply stated **"Oops…"** _-Oops? what the hell does she mean 'Oops'-_ Now Naruto was really getting pissed and let it show by swishing his tails in agitation… then it hit… _-Tails… I have tails…-_

"You freaking bastard. What the hell did you do to me? I have…one, no two tails." Kyuubi was amazed, now she really had made a mistake by letting the seal absorb a bit too much of her essence, not that it mattered to her but the boy might not be able to adjust if the pace was too demanding. And he already had two tails, quite the individual indeed. She shifted her perception to observe the boy and ah… there it was, most interesting. She decided to stop the boy who was in a full rant mode about villagers, lynch mobs and pitchforks.

**"Control yourself kitling… You really don't have tails. I did give you more than I intended, the seal you see. However I seriously doubt you have tails in the real world. Not all the time anyway… If you haven't noticed your hands sport a nice set of claws and you seem to have developed quite the fangs too." **She simply had to stop to giggle a bit at the sight of Naruto comically poking his extended canines with his tongue. That and the befuddled look he had when he stared at his fingers. Getting over her mirth she continued. "**Now your claws, fangs, eyes and… tails are all surging with my chakra. I think it's safe to assume that you normally retain your blue eyes and your normal, if insignificant, teeth and nails. And you will have no tails. However should you tap into my chakra, or channel your own chakra into those body parts you would manifest them as you have now.**

**As it is I'm most curious about your eyes. You certainly should try channelling chakra into them when you have the chance. I would think it possible that you might exhibit some abilities normally associated with more advanced bloodline limits, which by the way are remnants of demonic heritage. Now get out of here and go get something to eat, having smelled those foods after a fourteen year beauty sleep has made me ravenous."**

At this Naruto stuck out his tongue at the demon. "Ha Ha Ha, the jokes on you then, I can eat but you can't… right?" the last part was added in a more hesitant tone caused by a widening, and quite toothy, grin.

**"Kit, I can now touch the world just like you can. Maybe I can't do anything aside from watching, but still… I see, smell and hear what you do and I taste what you taste. You eat and I get nourished and so forth… the seal works both ways you know. On that note, while I think Ramen is tasty and everything, you really should expand your menu. It's not healthy… if it wasn't for me you'd be suffering from various ailments due malnutrition. And again before you ask, yes you can keep on eating ramen only, but it will seriously affect your physique… like say your growth. So if you want to stay midget…"**

Naruto was quick to screw his eyes shut when he was forcibly ejected from his own mind and back into the world of the living. Hastily he grabbed his own backside and let out a silent prayer when he found no trace of tails sticking out of his behind. Feeling his fingers he also deducted that his nails had reverted back to normal as per Kyuubi's prediction. Now all he had left was to do the hard part. Ever so slowly he cracked open his eyes, flinching at the dazzling brightness despite his sunglasses. Slowly letting his eyes adjust he opened them more, until finally he was able to look about without feeling a stabbing pain. _-Damn, she was right about the sensitivity…I wonder how I look though, and what was that about developing traits similar to bloodline limits. It would be cool to have something like the Sharingan eyes, it would the very least piss of Sasuke-teme.-_

Standing up he decided to go downstairs to the bathroom to find a mirror. Opening the door caused a new set of problems however. Inari… upon seeing his new hero emerging from the room promptly leaped up and started to question him in what, to Naruto, seemed like a deafening voice. After he had managed to get over the initial pain and had quieted Inari down, an easy task of actually asking him to talk in whispers and then instructing him to go tell Tsunami the same thing, he headed for the bathroom. Once there he shut his eyes, removed his sunglasses and slowly began the process of eye opening again. After about five minutes he finally managed to open his eyes and actually see enough to make out his own mirror image.

Staring at him from the mirror was, well… him, Naruto. A Naruto with blue eyes, but instead of the usual this one had slit pupils in those cerulean eyes he was so proud of… they had reminded him of the Yondaime after all. Also the whisker marks that he had were now a bit thicker. Now for the real test, yelling back in his mind he managed to coax a few tips out from Kyuubi, who quite frankly considered this something that absolutely could wait… until after the meal at least. Naruto then proceeded as per the instructions to channel some chakra into his eyes and to his amazement the eyes turned crimson. They also 'felt' different, something which Kyuubi said confirmed that they had some 'special' effect. She also suggested that Naruto should keep his eyes 'activated' during training and in any unusual situation until such a time when he found out exactly what their speciality was.

Feeling pleased with himself Naruto donned his sunglasses and headed downstairs only to find everyone else, with the exception of Sasuke, there. He glanced about, everyone was staring at him… him, Kazama Naruto, son of the Yondaime. Not that anyone knew about it but… Apparently Inari had made a number on how they were supposed to be quiet lest they hurt his ears. Deciding to make a 'Naruto style' entrance he promptly channelled chakra into his teeth, making them grow into intimidating fangs and then flashed his trademark grin eliciting a chorus of gasp from his loving audience. Sakura, being herself, forgot to be quiet and yelled out for an explanation.

Suddenly Naruto was feeling all hot and uncomfortable. Oh yes when he had explained this all to Kakashi-sensei they hadn't talked about a cover story, it wasn't like he could just say that 'Yeah well got the Kyuubi, drained her powers so deal with it' or something. Grasping straws he suddenly came up with a great idea, being a notorious prankster had taught him how to make excuses after all. "Ah please… keep it down, you are hurting my ears. You see… um yesterdays events on the bridge caused me to…ah… activate a bloodline limit. Just like Sasuke, except my speciality seems to be enhanced senses all around."

Kakashi was quite pleased. Naruto had come up with a plausible explanation for his new look, the eyes and well the ears too, as they had become a bit more pointed… or so it seemed. There was something more in his posture that he noticed. The way Naruto carried himself, there was much raw untapped potential there… much more than there had been previously. Also the eyes offered a good excuse for him to spend some training time with Naruto the next day. He had actually been surprised that it was Sakura who asked if she was to guard Tazuna the next day, just to give Naruto a chance to get more used to his 'bloodline' limit.

All in all he was quite surprised in Sakura's positive reaction. She had been ready to eat Naruto alive earlier but now seemed to be back to usual. He sighed… It had been a long day, and tomorrow would be another one. Good thing it would take another two weeks or so to get the bridge completed. He still needed to formulate his report to the Hokage and make some plan to stop the villagers from lynching his newfound nephew. Maybe he should teach him the Chidori… that would make them think twice. Or maybe he should track down Jiraya and make him teach the kid the Rasengan. The Jiraya option sounded pretty good, he needed the newest 'Icha Icha Paradise' anyway. With that final thought Hatake Kakashi fell into a dreamless sleep.

**TBC… **(in a week or so)

Author's rant:

Edited 11/02/06... chopped up the paragraphs so that it's easier to read or something

1) Here it finally is, the first chapter (1/10 I hope) of my school inspired masterpiece. Namely I wrote/write raw sketches of this during my, ah so fulfilling, classes of computer 101 (this here is the mouse… and this is the mouse pointer… you get the picture) I actually got a commendation from the teacher for making notes ;)… the sadistic bastard snoops on our computers during classes to see if we are playing solitaire or surfing the net or something, luckily he has no Byakugan so he can't snoop my notebook.

2) Before the members of SST (Sakura StormTroopers) decide to pay me a visit and break my kneecaps please take heart that even if she is bitchy in this chapter (She really was quite the bitch towards Naruto until the Chuunin exam's 3rd round.) She'll get nicer and won't be killed or anything that bad.

3) Those of you who wonder why this is listed under Naru/Hina and there's no Hina in this chapter… well I believe Naruto and Hinata actually spoke for the first time during the chuunin exams and that's around chapterIII so be patient. Also it won't be immediate "Ah Naruto-kun I love you" "Hinata-chan… let me take off those panties" either… actually there will be no panty removal (unless some1 writes that for me, sorry don't think I'm 'up' for the task... not that it's a pressing issue anyway) For those of you who fear the coming of Super-Naruto…fear not. He'll just get some decent teaching and a few cool (I hope) abilities… and no he won't be able to walk around with 10000kg weight suit or anything.

5) Umm I think I ran out of things to say… Oh yeah and please review this. I kinda need that to activate the ultimate level of my hindsight-gan…

6) And if you didn't figure it out by the summary, or the story this one starts after the whole Kakashi/Zabuza and Sasuke&Naruto/Haku fight, which happened in the end of the wave country arc

7) I made a slight boo-boo here: Having Kyuubi refer herself as one of the Jinchuuriki instead of Bijyuu. This error was pointed out by GMan and has now been corrected.

Ta Ta…


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 2: Enter Akai-chan the mighty… cub

He was uneasy, there was an ominous feel to the air. Swishing his nine tails in agitation, the mighty kitsune decided to go for a walk. Then there was sudden feel of vertigo when a vortex of violent energy was formed, sucking the demon towards its gaping maw. He tried to fight, bringing forth all the power he had gathered during the long years of his life, but to no avail. When the vortex finally died down the great beast noticed that he was no longer on his native plane. Instead, the place felt as if it was part of the human world. Growling in frustration the demon took notice of a considerably strong sealing circle, a circle that would contain one such as him for a few moments.

**_-Most curious… to summon me here against my will, and try to trap me with such trifles. What are these humans hoping to accomplish?-_**

His bloodlust began to rise, the humans had to be punished for this indignity. Glancing about he took note of the humans who were positioned around the circle. Roaring in rage the demon gathered chakra into his tails and slammed them against the irritating circle that was between him and his prey. The humans, he noted, were in a flurry of activity, trying desperately to complete series of hand seals for some unknown purpose. He would have none of that, baring his impressive fangs he roared again, this time in wicked glee as he felt the circle begin to give away. Incidentally the humans seemed to notice this too, as their concentration began to break… Ah the smell of fear was thick in the air. Then the circle gave a way with a boom of finality and the demon gathered his tails in preparation for a strike that would destroy these fools in an instant.

That was when the jutsu hit. Pain… white hot, blinding pain. Trying to rally his mental defences against the onslaught of agony he began to falter. Feeling defences crumbling around him he sought out what he surmised was his tormentor. And there was a man with a pale face, black hair and yellow eyes… and a Hitai-ate sporting a leaf symbol.

_**-Konoha… why would they?-**_

The thought was cut short, when the pale faced man completed another jutsu bringing forth another wave of blinding agony. Amidst the searing pain he could make out words, whispers all repeating the same thing.

"For the glory of the leaf… By the order of the Hokage... Konoha will have your strength…"

Slowly but surely he let the whispers crawling within his skull take his sanity, only thing that mattered was revenge. Death to the bastards who had tried to steal his powers. And the pain, the pain wouldn't go away before he would make them suffer, and suffer they would. Minutes, hours or maybe even days later, it didn't matter because there had only been pain and rage, he had arrived to the Hidden village of Leaf. With wild abandon he tore into the assembled ninjas who desperately tried to fend of the embodiment of their inevitable death. He revelled at the feel of tearing flesh, the sound of blood gushing when he tore the miserable rats apart. Then even through the insanity he could feel something powerful approaching. There, he recognized the man, standing atop a giant toad was the leader of these fools… He would die and with him the village would die as well. The moment of gloating came with a price though, when the Yondaime Hokage leaped on his head, right between the ears and slammed something against his forehead. Then there was a familiar feel of vertigo and again a sucking vortex… Then there was nothing.

Naruto shot up from his bed, covered in sweat and breathing hard. He shivered at the memory of the dream, it had been… vivid to say the least. Quickly patting his head and butt he was relieved that he hadn't grown ears or tails or anything else weird. Shivering again at the memory of feeling relished by massacring humans, he decided to pay the bastard fox a visit… this had to be her fault anyway. He did pause to consider the feelings of agony he had felt during the dream and decided that, maybe the ordeal of having his senses tweaked the day before hadn't really been all that painful… then again compared to what he had felt in the dream… Shivering once more he forced himself to relax and entered Kyuubi's den. To his utter amazement and dismay the demon in question was sleeping, quite comfortably it seemed. Naruto blinked several times to make sure that yes, the demon was indeed asleep. He grinned when Kyuubi suddenly yapped lightly and began to twitch her legs.

_-Damn! I wish I had a camera right now, this would be über blackmail material… The 'Queen' of Foxes dreaming like a small puppy. Too bad I don't know any water jutsus either, nothing like being doused with cold water for a wakeup call.-_ Grinning to himself Naruto decided to settle for the next best thing. Composing his face into best 'Iruka' likeness he drew a deep breath and let loose a bellow of "**HORA! BAKA KITSUNE... NO SLEEPING DURING CLASSES!**" The results were beyond his expectations.

Kyuubi jumped up and promptly banged her head against the cage. After taking stock of the situation she growled angrily at the boy, now rolling on the floor laughing **"What the hell do you want brat? Don't you know that it's middle of the night?"** She glared at Naruto who was in the process of composing himself **"And why in the blazes did you have to interrupt the best dream I've had in years… I was just about to pounce on that rabbit too."**

Naruto, who had just gotten over his fit of mirth, got slightly annoyed at this. "You dream about rabbits huh? Well for your information I just had a very, very nasty dream… And I was YOU in that dream. Basically I got sucked into somewhere, then subjected to a whole lot of pain and then massacred better part of Konoha's ninja forces. So… I was wondering if you could tell me why the hell do I would see something like that." The last part came out as something between a demand, request and accusation and was accentuated by agitated swishing of the two bushy tails that he sported while in Kyuubi's realm.

The said demon was quite thoughtful. **_-So the kit had the same dream. Curious as to how he would see it… I wonder-_** Sniffing slightly she took in the smells that were wafting from Naruto, there was strong smell of sweat mingled with agitation and quite surprisingly only a minute scent of fear. She giggle to herself, quite the kit indeed. **"That was how I remember it happening, I had the same… dream. But tell me did you have any other 'fox like' dreams?"** When Naruto indicated negative, she pondered for a moment before explaining. **"I told you that it wasn't my conscious choice to attack Konoha. It's possible that I, on a subconscious level, wanted you to see what really happened. You see kit, I need to gain your trust and subconsciousness is something that even great demons such as I can't quite control. If it's any consolation I promise that I will do my best to keep any other such… unpleasant dreams from you."**

There really wasn't much Naruto could say to that. The explanation had been plausible and Kyuubi did sound sincere and even apologetic, if such a term could be applied to her. He was here anyway so why not seize the moment. Making himself comfortable he glanced at the demon and began to inquire about what was going to learn today. "So… Kyuubi-chan what wi…" He got now further before being knocked on his back by a furious roar from the newly named 'Kyuubi-chan'

"**You will not call me that… I absolutely detest that name. If you wish to call me with a endearing name then call me… Kyuu-chan" **The last part was squealed in overtly cute and girly voice. Naruto naturally fell flat to his face and lay in a twitching heap. When he finally got up he kept his distance and shot wide eyed glances towards the cage. **"Oh come on now kit, you seriously think I care what you call me. If you think me as Kyuubi-chan then you do. And judging by the eager expression you had on your face you were about to ask me what you should be learning today."** She snickered at the boy's startled face… So easy to read this one, he really should get some lessons in keeping a game face, or get a mask like his 'uncle'. **"You have set of new senses, claws which will serve as efficient weapons if you learn to use them and a pair of tails which can be used for similar purposes. Logically one would start with them. Also I would do some more chakra control exercises as most Kitsune abilities require quite precise control… and that control will greatly help you in learning new jutsus as well." **

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself back on his futon. Judging by the sound of breathing Sasuke was still asleep but Kakashi seemed to be awake so he muttered a low greeting. Smelling food he decided to get up and go see if Tsunami required any help in the kitchen, Kyuubi had been implying that he might stay short if he didn't start eating stuff besides ramen and since he didn't know how to cook… After Naruto snuck out from the room and towards the stairs Hatake Kakashi sat up. He had been awake for the past two hours, woken suddenly by Naruto who bolted upright, then slumped back onto his futon and then, just as suddenly, dressed and simply walked out. He really needed to find out what had happened, but that could wait until they could speak in private. Shrugging he too got dressed and proceeded to shake Sasuke to see if he was feeling well enough to come downstairs for breakfast.

Half an hour later everyone had gathered downstairs to eat. Sasuke's attendance had brightened up the table, even if Sasuke himself was in a surly mood. He had immediately noticed Naruto's eyes and felt, quite frankly, annoyed. How dare the dope activate a bloodline limit, specifically something that looked like a doujutsu. It would be insufferable to have someone compare him, the rookie of the year, to the 'Dead-last' of the academy. It got worse however when Sakura, seeing his weakened state, took it upon herself to feed him causing him irritation to no end. And then… she began to babble about Naruto's new abilities making sure that she stated, multiple times no less, that the vaunted Sharingan would definitely be stronger and that he was stronger. Naturally this didn't sit well with Inari, to whom world now revolved around Naruto. He began to argue in loud voice that Naruto was 'super' strong and not a pale 'super' wimp like Sasuke. This lead to a cataclysmic disaster in the form of Mt. Sakura erupting…

Naruto could only grin at the insult. That was something that he couldn't say without an instant, and painful, retaliation from Sakura, who despite being pissed at the brat who was slandering the love of her life, could not bring herself to beat up a small kid. Finishing his breakfast he decided that it was time to leave, so he excused himself and raced out the door while donning his sunglasses. Back at the table Kakashi was watching the argument between Sakura and Inari with interest. He also noted that Sasuke was trying to get his attention while he, feigning ignorance concentrated on the bickering duo.Sasuke obviously wanted to know more about Naruto's 'bloodline' but simply could not bring himself to ask about it. Seriously, Kakashi thought, if he wants to know, then he should ask about it. He needs to open up more anyway and making him talk would be a step towards the right direction.

Finally growing tired of not getting noticed Sasuke all but growled at his sensei. "Now what is this all new bloodline limit the dope's suddenly developed… what does it do exactly?"

Kakashi's eyelid drooped lazily until it covered about half of his visible eye and he let out a contemplative 'hmmm' "Well… it does… we really don't know…" Smirking behind his mask he watched the Uchiha heir's countenance darken with barely held anger. Before the boy could speak up Kakashi continued. "You saw some of the visible changes that have taken place. What basically happened is that when the bloodline limit kicked in Naruto developed enhanced senses. Eyes, ears, nose and the like."

Sasuke mulled over the information for a while then proceeded to question further. "So basically he has developed senses of a… what… a cat or something? I mean the eyes looked bit catlike."

Kakashi thanked the kami for his mask, which kept his relieved expression safely hidden. He had been dreading that Sasuke would associate the eyes with a fox for some reason, while they did really resemble cat eyes more. He nodded in agreement with Sasuke's declaration and then pulled out his infamous orange book… he needed something familiar to fall back to. Sasuke on the other hand was contemplating this new information. So the dope had actually gotten a better nose, big deal… _-Pppft… I'll still kick the dope from here to Konoha. It's not like he's going to get stronger from smelling things.-_ With this final though, which brought out a self-satisfied smirk, Sasuke decided that he still needed to rest a few days.

Several hours later Kakashi came to the clearing where Naruto was practicing. He noted several things at once. There was a broken tree that looked as if it had been hit extremely hard and that there was another tree with a Naruto shaped dent in it a good twenty yards away from the first tree. More interesting were the facts that Naruto was sporting quite menacing claws and bit disquieting, crimson eyes. Also there was an eerie shimmering or distortion that moved in the air behind the boy. Clearing his throat he brought the blondes attention to himself. He only raised an eyebrow when the claws, fangs and the distortion disappeared and the eyes turned back into blue. With curiosity barely held back he sat on a rock and asked. "So Naruto… how's the 'new' body coming along?"

Finally, now he had someone to brag about all the cool senses he'd gotten. Not to mention the chakra boost and… trembling with excitement he proceeded to tell all he'd found out about himself so quickly that any listener would make out about quarter of the actual content. After a swift bonk to the head and a stern order to calm down and explain things… slowly… He began again "It was awesome when I came out from the house and entered the forest. There were so many sounds, the leaves rustling, birds chirping, running water and the like. And the smells…I have identified 9 different woodland animals already!" The last bit was exclaimed in proud tone. "Lessee, yeah after I got the hang of being outdoors and actually could concentrate on my immediate surroundings without being overwhelmed by the sounds and smells, I started to experiment with my own body. The thing is I got more than I bargained for… You saw the claws, fangs and eyes… and my… tails." Naruto's grin widened matching the widening eye of his sensei.

There was a moment of silence after which Kakashi managed to utter in a strained tone "What tails?"

This question what quite unexpected, what was he blind? Surely he had seen the neat looking tails he manifested when tapping into Kyuubi's chakra, or when he focused his own chakra into his rear. Doing just that, Naruto brought his newly formed tail to the fore. To his amazement there was no tail there, only a slight distortion in the air. Dumbfounded he grabbed a hold of the distortion and held on tight, while listening to Kyuubi's amused explanation in his mind. **"It would seem that your tails are invisible to the normal eye kit. Perhaps your ability to see them was a result of using my chakra or perhaps you simply need to activate your… what was it you called it 'Shinkugan'."**

Kakashi watched in amazement as the distortions he had seen earlier reappeared and moved in front of Naruto, who suddenly seemed to be amazed as well. His amazement only grew when the boy seemed to grab the distortion and stare into space after that. Then Naruto's eyes turned crimson again and the boy let out a small sigh of relief. And relieved he was. Naruto could again see his cool looking, flaming red bushy tails with white tips. Swishing the tails around with a feel of contentment, and pointedly ignoring Kyuubi's giggles for 'foxlike behaviour', he turned to look at Kakashi with a wide grin. Stroking one of his tails, and lashing the other out to encircle Kakashi's hand he declared "These tails…"

It took about an hour to explain it all, how tapping to Kyuubi's chakra would manifest tails, claws and fangs and turn his eyes crimson and how he could channel his own chakra to create a similar effect. Kakashi was sufficiently shocked when he learned that Naruto had, in addition to his enhanced eyesight, gained something extra. Frowning he began to mentally list possible ways to test and bring out the full extent of his nephew's new ability. Leaning backwards he glanced at the sky overhead. "Hmm… You can see your tails when you activate your ability, tails which are made at least partially of chakra… That would indicate an ability akin to the Byakugan of the Hyuuga-clan. Then again you can't seem to be able to see actual flow of chakra… most curious. We should test if your eyes help you see through genjutsu or if they help you memorize jutsus." Nodding to himself he continued to rattle of possible abilities ignorant to the fact that Naruto was getting bored as he had already heard pretty much the same from Kyuubi.

Deciding to interrupt his sensei Naruto pointedly cleared his throat. Feeling a questioning eye on himself he began. "Then there is the fact that I'm slightly stronger and faster than before, nothing major but still there's a difference. On a related note my chakra reserves have increased noticeably." At this he blushed a bit and pointed at the damaged trees. "See, Kyuubi suggested that I keep working on my chakra control as some of the kitsune abilities that I should be able to use require good control… So when I tried to climb the tree I actually gathered, what I thought was sufficient, chakra and tried to run up the tree only to have the tree splinter and blow me across the clearing and into the other tree." He then walked at another tree and firmly planted his foot on it, then lifted his other foot and began to walk up the tree. He did waver a bit but all in all it was quite the performance. "As you can see, I think I got it right…"

Motioning for him to come down Kakashi could only feel proud of his student. He had during the explanations taken note of the fact that Naruto's clothing seemed bit small for him. It clicked when he said something about strength. Naruto had practically overnight developed much more bulk than previously. Not that he was a walking mass of muscle but still it showed, good thing too because now Kakashi had a good excuse to steer him towards proper ninja dress code. Seriously, bright orange was not the colour of choice for covert operations. And then there was the issue of teaching him a new jutsu that would suit his abilities quite well.

When Naruto came down from the tree he was amazed to see Kakashi removing… shin guards and then handing them to him. Naruto inspected the leather covered armour plates with a confused look but put them on at the Jounin's insistence. After he had secured the pieces on his legs he looked up and asked. "So what are these? Some ultra-powerful ninja equipment or something?" He could almost see a sadistic gleam in Kakashi's eye when he began a rapid series of hand seals.

Finishing the seals Kakashi began to examine the now quite startled Genin. After Naruto had run around the clearing a few times as per orders, Kakashi frowned and began a new set of seals. Again he motioned Naruto to do a few laps around the clearing. His frown deepened, the boy looked barely winded…Time to up the ante, again hands blurred forming seals. This time to his relief Naruto was moving sluggishly when ran around. After a few dozen push ups, pull ups and sit ups Naruto was barely able to draw breath. Smirking behind his mask Kakashi proceeded to explain. "I take it that you have already noticed that moving is somewhat… difficult. There are special seals engraved on the plating of those shin guards, seals made by your father that is. I actually have his bracers that are identical to those, but they are back in Konoha so in the mean time I'm lending you these… You should stick to your normal training regimen and take these off or cancel the effect only when you are bathing or sleeping or in a serious fight."

He struck a teacher like pose "Now most shinobi try to increase their strength, stamina and speed by wearing weights, weighted clothing or carrying around extra equipment. This is all well and good but consider yourself wearing a weighted suit on a mission. You need to wear the weights over a long period of time to gain most benefit from wearing them, and you are on missions about half of your time. If you get into trouble there's no time to start removing any weight suits or the like. Thus Arashi-sensei created these, small metal pieces that mimic the effects of a weight suit by genjutsu… and it only takes a word to dispel the effect. He really was a genius when it came to crafting seals."

Ending his lecture he checked the position of the sun and decided that lunch would be ready soon. Flipping open a scroll pouch he pulled out two scrolls and tossed them to Naruto, then turning around, started to walk out of the clearing. Just as he reached the forests edge he stopped and turned his head to look at the bewildered boy. "There are the seals required to change the intensity of the genjutsu. And a new jutsu for you, I think it will suit your new abilities quite well… I'm sure you are familiar with it as it is the Kiri Gakure no Jutsu." He turned again but stopped and turned back for the last time "Oh and if you want to advance your chakra control, try water walking…" with that he vanished leaving a stunned Naruto behind.

Naruto had been startled when Kakashi began to flash through hand seals all of the sudden. Then he had grown initially bored when ordered to run around in circles… it was stupid... or had been until he noticed that he had trouble walking, let alone running, with his usual bounce. The blonde had been somewhat reluctant for such a tremendous increase in his workload and was about to object until he heard few magic words like 'increase' and 'speed'… it annoyed him to no end that whatever he did Sasuke-teme was always faster. Not to mention that this training method was designed by his father, that fact alone made it worth trying. His objections now forgotten Naruto was eager to get back to training when Kakashi tossed him two scrolls of all things. He had expected to get some instructions on how to cancel the genjutsu but to get the whole set of instructions and a new jutsu-scroll to boot. He was now ecstatic but before he could flip open the Kiri Gakure scroll he was stopped cold by Kyuubi's commanding **"Not now kit, save the scroll for later. You have plenty of time to study it tomorrow when you are guarding the bridge. As for now I suggest you learn how to dispel the genjutsu on those shin guards and then get to the water walking exercise your sensei mentioned… a reasonably good idea, coming from a mere mortal."**

And so it went for the next few days. Naruto was alternating between practice and guard duty. The practice consisting walking on water and climbing trees while trying to focus on different scents or sounds at the same time, something which he was getting better at… He actually was able to take note of subtle differences in the background noises and scents while still focusing on the task at hand. It was what Kyuubi called awareness of the surrounding environment, which was 'natural' to all foxes. Naruto had scoffed at this, the damn furball was always saying things like that, as if it was not a common trait among all wild animals.

The guard duty didn't actually give Naruto much time to study his new scroll. Not that there were any threats or anything, but simply because there were so damn many workers as nearly every able bodied man and boy had volunteered to help in finishing the bridge. As such Tazuna had been forced into mainly overseeing the work instead of doing actual work. Not that he minded really, he was after all and old man. Naruto, being himself, wasn't really all that interested in Tazuna's explanations on allocating manpower and finer points of logistics until the old man began to point out similarities between the bridge building effort and Konoha… and how a Hokage should know about allocating right resources for the right job. This naturally piqued Naruto's interest, he was going to be Hokage someday so maybe it would be good to learn some tricks of the trade from a small scale 'replica'.

After the fifth day Sasuke finally declared that he was feeling well enough to take part of the mission again. He really didn't want to waste time guarding some stupid bridge, but had been pointedly told that no guarding would mean no training. So he had decided that it was prudent to start guarding so he could get back to training… Naruto might have a tiny bit closer to his level while he had been lazing about.

When sun rose the next day, Naruto had already gobbled down his breakfast and was sitting crosslegged near a stream. His face was a mask of intense concentration, with an elongated canine poking from his mouth indicating that he was channelling Kyuubi's chakra. This went on for an hour or so until suddenly a small ball of bluish flame sprang from his palm… and winked out from existence the next second. Naruto blinked at his palm, then released Kyuubi's chakra and wiped his sweaty forehead. Even if his chakra control had improved in bounds and leaps during the last few days, and he was using Kyuubi's chakra which was innately more kitsune like than his own, this was going to be harder than anything he had done before. He stood up and splashed his face in the stream. Good thing he had grabbed a few rice balls in case he'd stay out here over lunch because he was already feeling bit hungry. He was munching on a rice ball when he heard a piteous sound that was a mixture of whimper and mewing. Cautiously following the sound to it's origin he found the most miserable sight of his life. There lay a thoroughly wet and obviously exhausted ball of reddish fur.

To say that Naruto was amazed was an understatement. He immediately knew that the creature I front of him was a small fox but still it was the first time he'd seen a real fox. That really wasn't the source of his amazement, it was rather the burst of maternal emotions that he felt coming from Kyuubi. The said demon was at the time giving instructions to her vessel. **"This kit is thoroughly exhausted and probably afraid. Tap into my chakra, it should give you more familiar feel and lessen the little ones fear. Then slowly take of your jacket and put her into it… then head back to the house."**

Soon after Naruto was running towards the house carrying a sleeping kit that was wrapped in his coat. It had been surprisingly easy to gain the kit's trust, all it had taken was leaking out a little Kyuubi's chakra, something which the kit seemed to recognize instinctively and a strategically placed rice ball. Running over the list of instructions from Kyuubi Naruto tightened his grip on the 'nest' he was carrying and opened the door only to meet the inquisitive eyes of both Tsunami and Kakashi. Shrugging he motioned them to be quiet and continued to elaborate "I found this poor thing in the forest, by the stream. She was wet and obviously exhausted so I figured she could bunk with us till we find her parents." Needless to say neither Kakashi, who was well aware of what was sealed in Naruto, nor Tsunami, who was instantly taken by the sheer cuteness of the small animal, objected. Tsunami went a step further and offered to get the poor little thing a plate of milk and some minced meat. As both items were on the 'approved foods' list Naruto readily agreed. Taking the milk and meat and collecting his new pet Naruto made his way to the room where he set his jacket on the farthest corner. Then he, still tapped into Kyuubi's chakra pulled out a futon and placed it near the fox and tried to recreate the bluish flame he had managed to form earlier.

Sometime after lunch, which was delivered to him by a curious Tsunami, the kitsune cub woke up. She poked her head from the pile of orange jumpsuit and looked about. There was the weird, two legged fox that shed its fur and had an odd feel about him. She decided that a small yap would bring about some attention. When he heard the yap Naruto let his concentration slip. He had managed to recreate the flame several times and had managed to hold it together for almost two seconds this time. Focusing on the kit he then realized that he had no means of communicating with the fox and decided to ask for help. A question of "Hey foxy, you wouldn't happen to have a trick that would make me understand fox now would you? Or better yet a trick that would make her talk human?" was promptly answered.

**"Yes… and yes. Pick her on your lap and come to see me."** "Baka kitsune, I can't bring stuff over can I?" There was a growl in his mind **"If you couldn't then why the hell were you wearing that, that thing you call a nightcap when you were here after the nightmare? Just try it."** Shrugging Naruto slowly reached at the kit who seemed to tense but allowed itself to be taken into his lap. Then, going through the now familiar process of relaxing his mind, he… and to his surprise the small kit were in Kyuubis den.

The small kit looked about in stunned silence, then let out a yelp which translated itself as "Wow, where are we?" in Naruto's mind. Without thinking he answered with a court "Kyuubi's place…" and was about to elaborate when he realized that he had actually understood the fox. His bewilderment was apparently obvious, judging by the multitude of giggles coming from Kyuubi's cage. Shaking herself out from the mirth Kyuubi leaned closer to the gate and said **"Greetings little one, as the other said you are in my place now. I am Kyuubi Queen of the Foxes…"** at the last part Kyuubi glared at Naruto as if daring him to snicker at the title. The small kit was awed though, she was young, yes, barely seven weeks of age but still she had heard of Kyuubi. She had to wonder what had really happened. But that could wait, the revered Kyuubi was speaking again. **"This kitling found and saved you, now he would help you find your parents after you have recovered. It might be easier if you would be able to communicate on the outside world as you can here so I'm going to activate some of your heritance, something that happens to only a few and select kitsunes. This will help you to understand what he is saying, and in time will give you the ability to speak the language of men…"** She then turned her gaze from the awestruck kit towards now cautious Naruto. With a honeyed tone she continued **"…as for you, ill surrender more of myself to the seal. Don't worry I'll be careful this time… and it will only hurt… a bit."** With that last and, at least to Naruto, rather worrisome statement red chakra began to ooze through the gates quickly enveloping both Naruto and the fox cub.

Moments later Naruto opened his eyes only to regret it instantly. The pain hadn't really been all that bad but damn, what a headache. Feeling the pulsing pain diminish somewhat he opened his eyes again and looked down only to meet a gaze of two golden-brown eyes with slitted pupils. After a moment of mutual staring Naruto decided to break the silence and asked "So, did you really learn to speak or was that old hag all talk?" Not really expecting an answer he was surprised to see the kit opening her mouth and trying to voice something out. Then she tried again, and again but the words simply wouldn't form. Noticing the effort Naruto asked incredulously "You can actually understand what I say but can't form the words to answer?" seeing the kit bob her head he whistled with appreciation. "So maybe I could understand you as well. Why don't you try… um... yapping at me or something."

The little kitsune let out a long series of yaps, barks and growls which loosely translated as "Who are you?... Was that really Kyuubi-sama?... Where am I?... and... You smell funny."

Sighing at the kit Naruto proceeded to explain at length. By the time he had finished Akai-chan, as the kit was named by her parents, was resting comfortably in a baby carrier that circled Naruto's shoulders and hung against his chest. The baby carrier had been provided by Tsunami who on her way to get the dishes had spent a good fifteen minutes petting the ecstatic kit. At Kyuubi's suggestion Naruto had stressed the importance of not trying to speak human when there were others near, not that Akai really could do much more than mouth the beginning of the word 'Naruto' in a rather comical way. It was okay to yelp at Naruto who could then relay the message as a gut feeling or something.

The new addition to Team Seven was received in overall good spirit. Sakura naturally was no better than Tsunami and instantly fell in love with the adorable little ball of red fluff. She actually didn't want to let go of the kit until she started to yap at Naruto to come and rescue her… It was time to eat after all. Sasuke coldly dismissed Akai as an 'annoying rodent' that Naruto should keep away from him. And then there was Kakashi who simply rose his eyebrow and decided that explanations could wait for the next day, that didn't keep him from petting the little animal tentatively or from realizing that he really wasn't all that surprised to see a small fox dangling from Narutos shirt… not really after all that had happened in the past week.

The next day Naruto and Akai, who was hitching a ride in the baby carrier, set out on a brisk pace. Following the stream they came soon enough to the place which Akai recognized. Tapping into Kyuubi's chakra Naruto began to follow the scent of fox that was permeating the area. Not much later a family of six foxes came to view causing Akai to struggle out from the baby carrier. The adult foxes, after doing a hasty check on Akai, continued to stare at Naruto who was quite unsure what to do. He was about to ask when the male fox suddenly whirled and vanished into what seemed to be a passage in their den. Naruto only smiled at Akai who was giving an embellished version of her adventures to now obviously jealous litter mates. He was just about to ask Akai about her father when the said male returned, followed by an aged, almost silver coloured, fox. Naruto instantly recognized the newcomer as important one when the cubs stopped their play and quieted down. The elderly fox then slowly and deliberately stepped in front of the boy and bowed respectfully. "How may we thank you for saving one of our own mistress?" it asked in a clear voice.

Naruto, after picking his jaw from the ground proceeded, much to Kyuubi's amusement, vehemently deny being a mistress of any kind. He then began to explain the whole set of events that had lead to him meeting Akai and so on. The story, which was translated into 'fox' by proudly grinning Akai, kept the entire fox family captivated. While the adults were still digesting the story, the cubs led by Akai pounced on the hapless Naruto who soon fell laughing under the onslaught. After a while the cubs calmed down and Naruto began to think of leaving. He had grown fond of the small kit but still, this was her family. He thanked the old fox and was about to bid his farewell to Akai only to find the kit safely tucked in her baby carrier. He petted the small animal and in a sad tone said "Look Akai-chan… this is your home, your family…"

He was going to continue to explain about the prejudice and hatred he faced in Konoha and reasons as to why she couldn't possibly come with him, when the old fox, and to his surprise Kyuubi interrupted. **"She has made her choice kit, it's now up to you if you will take her with you… There will be responsibilities of a pack leader and to an extent… older brother."** Naruto looked from the kitsune family, who were staring at him expectantly, to the small adorable eyes that belonged to his self proclaimed 'sister'. _-Aw what the hell… I got over the shock of having Kakashi as an uncle so I guess I can take having a kitsune-neechan…-_ Reaching to scratch Akai between the ears he said "Guess you and me are going to stick together then…?" After a series of long goodbyes and earful of good advice to both, Naruto and Akai began their trek back home. They were however, only halfway when Kyuubi presented yet another ideal 'training' mission.

Kakashi was intrigued to say the least. He had grown bored soon after giving Sakura her training objectives for the day and had decided to check up on Naruto. After an hour of futile searching he had decided to find a comfortable tree branch and had begun leafing through 'Icha Icha Paradise vol. III'. Still he found it difficult to concentrate on the, normally very captivating, content of his favourite book series. The fact was that Naruto, and Kyuubi for that matter, had gone to find the family of a fox cub that had very conveniently appeared. There was always a possibility of a deception, something that kitsunes who were notorious tricksters were more than capable of pulling off. After deciding that he should renew his search for the boy he had summoned one of his nin-dogs and ordered him to track Naruto's scent and had been following the dog when he came face to face with the scene in front of him.

Naruto, while in good mood, was still trying to figure how the hell he was going to explain Kakashi the fact that he now had a fox as a sister and pack mate. Shrugging inwardly he took note of Akai, who was happily chasing a butterfly, and moved the deer carcass that he was carrying on better position. Both he and Akai came to halt almost simultaneously when they all but stumbled on a very, very interested looking Kakashi. Smiling bit sheepishly Naruto shifted the deer on his shoulders again. "Ahh Kakashi-sensei… There's really a very good explanation for this…"

And so the days went by. Team Seven had now split their shifts into one day of guarding, one of training and one of resting. For Sasuke this meant that he was on the bridge one day, then trained one day and did his best to avoid Sakura the other. For Sakura, it was guard duty, little training and fawning over Sasuke. And for Naruto, it was really guarding and learning from Tazuna one day, training chakra control and trying to get his fox fire to last more than a few moments and teaching Akai, combined with a healthy amount of playing, the other days. Kakashi simply sneaked about, watching as Naruto honed his stealth skill by hunting wild animals for Tsunami to cook, watching Sasuke try to evade the love sick Sakura and well doing what he usually did when he had too much time on his hands… reading his beloved orange book.

After a few weeks the bridge was finished and so was the first serious mission of Genin Team Seven. For Naruto it had been busy time. He had found out that the malicious demon Kyuubi wasn't actually all that bad… for a demon anyway, had found out who his parents were and had found a relative… heck he had even adopted a sister. Now they were heading home, leaving behind the newly named 'Great Naruto Bridge'. Naruto's backpack was bulging with gifts, now they given to him but were actually for Akai-chan. He had an assortment of chew toys, a food and water bowl, few balls and a plethora of toys in general. Akai-chan had certainly wormed her way into everyone's heart, even the usually cold Sasuke had been seen petting the little kit on an occasion. Naruto could only chuckle as he thought how the good citizens of Konoha would react to a sight of a small ninja fox, complete with a miniature Konoha Hitai-ate that she now wore around her neck marking her as an official member of Team Seven, walking down the streets of their beloved village.

Other than that Naruto had improved drastically. He had pretty much mastered the art of tuning out background noise while still remaining alert to any changes. For the smells he could now identify most common smells and could easily pick out his team mates by their specific scents. He had also found that his claws didn't only look intimidating but could easily be converted as vicious slashing or stabbing weapons. And then there were the tails that he surmised were the more useful part of his new arsenal… they could be used for grappling as well as clubbing someone. He stopped his listings to stare at Sasuke's back. _-Up yours Sasuke-teme! I even found out what the Shinkugan does… maybe I can't just monkey any jutsu I see but still…-_

It had been a week earlier when Naruto and Kakashi had been able to determine at least one of Shinkugan's features. Kakashi had taken it upon himself to teach the boy his father's knowledge and had decided to start with taijutsu, something that he had easily copied with the Sharingan. Naruto with his new eyes 'activated' had not been able to copy, but rather to understand the taijutsu forms he was being taught. He was able somehow to see the purpose of each move, what they were meant to do, how they flowed from one to the next and also to an extent memorize them. All in all he had in a few days adapted the lower tiers of the Yondaime's taijutsu, which was specifically designed to work in conjunction with Hiraishin no jutsu and the Rasengan. From what they, and Kyuubi for that matter, had deducted Naruto couldn't copy anything on the spot, instead he needed to practice the said taijutsu in order to use it himself. The ability to break down and analyze any given taijutsu move was a distinct advantage though, if you could see what the purpose of the move… or a series of moves was, you could easily formulate a proper defence or counter attack against it. This was shown in action when Kakashi had to admit that if Naruto would have had his claws extended he would be suffering from a severely torn, if not totally ruined, hand.

Besides all that Naruto now had an extra set of ears and a sharp nose that were fiercely loyal to him. Akai-chan had become almost inseparable from him. The kit was still only a pup but had proven to be an asset, she was for one a very light sleeper and woke up at the slightest of sounds… unlike Naruto, who despite his keen ears could sleep through an all out battle. Smirking to himself Naruto picked up the said kit and placed her in the baby carrier. The gates of Konoha were just beyond the next bend and foxes were not generally liked in the Leaf Village. He was really looking forward to seeing the villagers gape in impotent rage when he strolled around the streets carrying a fox in a baby carrier… at the least it would give them something to gossip about. Deep in his mind Kyuubi was trying hard not burst out in uncontrollable fits of laugher. Kazama Naruto and Kazama Akai had returned.

**TBC…** (in a week or so)

Shinkugan means Crimsoneye

Kiri Gakure no Jutsu means Hidden mist technique

Hiraishin no jutsu means Flying thunder god technique

Akai means red.

Author's rant (again)

Well here's the second chapter of this fic, I know there was the (in a week or so) written after the tbc in the last chapter but I, for better or worse, seem to have caught cold. And seeing as there is the worst ever winter storm outside decided that it would be prudent to skip school. Thus after being bored I decided to write this chapter. If the storm continues and/or my cold continues expect an update later this week…

As it is, I've tried to address some issues pointed out by the reviewers, namely trying to start a new paragraph every time the speaker changes and overall improve the formatting. Seriously though I have absolutely **no** eye for layout so don't expect too much there. Anyway at least I tried right? (Do, or do not… there is no trying!) 

Now I know that giving Naruto a fox cub as a companion/sister/whatever is a real cliché… I debated with myself whether or not I should dump Akai… I decided to keep her in the fic mainly because she's there to add some fluff (literally)… there really won't be much of fluff or general romance until after the Chuunin exams anyway. Also Akai-chan, being so darn cute, will be a nice factor when we start the club for 'rabid' Naruto fangirls .

Another real clichés are the foxfire and the doujutsu. Foxfire I ripped off from Shippo in Inu-Yasha and from wikipedia's kitsune page. I just felt that it would be cool to have some innate kitsune abilities for Naruto and I have a few practical combat oriented uses for foxfire (like say flaming rasengan?). The doujutsu was more debatable, seriously there are tons of fics in which Naruto can either a)see chackra b)see through genjutsus c)create genjutsus, including the ability to trap people with Kyuubi d)copy ninjutsu e)copy taijutsu or g)a combination of the above listed ones. I tried to be slightly original here by taking an analytic approach on the whole taijutsu issue, which I feel is Naruto's greatest weakness, along with his chakra control. Also about Naruto seeing his tails only when his Shinkugan is active… they are composed of demonic chakra… so the Shinkugan can also see demonic chakra and it's manifestations, or something 

Oh and did I mention the training 'weights'… lets not even go there… pretty please.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

Also I claim no ownership over the '…for dummies' book series.

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 3: The Chuunin selection… exam thingy

Naruto was tense. Despite the display of bravado shown earlier, he was somewhat afraid of the reaction he was going to get from the people of Konoha. Not that he was worried about being outright lynched or anything but still… Stroking Akai absently between the ears he steeled his resolve to overcome what ever the villagers would throw at him, and his newly adopted neechan, and strode purposefully towards the gates. When he got there he noticed, to his relief, that he wasn't the only one who was feeling nervous. The two ANBU members who were assigned to guard the gate visibly tensed when they came face to face with a baby kitsune and the Kyuubi's carrier. A meaningful glare from Kakashi held back any comments from the ANBU who only motioned a court acknowledgement to the returning nins.

As he had expected the villagers immediately took note of Akai, who was curiously peeking about from her baby carrier, and began to whisper amongst themselves. Their reaction varied from fear to confusion and ultimately to anger. As they walked by he could hear the whispers "…evil fox, proves that he's a demon spawn…" and the subsequent replies of "…shh remember the law." As the Team Seven made their way towards the Hokage tower to turn in their mission report, Naruto had to fight back surges of anger. He really didn't care if the villagers slandered him, but to call him a demon spawn was an insult directed towards his parents. Calming himself he concentrated on watching the reactions of the shinobi populace. To his confusion he received hardly any evil glares, instead most of the shinobi who passed only tensed slightly when they took note of Akai or met the gaze from Naruto's slitted blue eyes. Others looked him with regret, alarm or a mixture of both, some even seemed sympathetic of all things.

Kakashi, who had been tense and ready to defend his student if need be, began to relax as he noted the absence of hostility from Konoha shinobi. The villagers were really only a minor nuisance and posed little, if any threat to anyone who was above the second year as an academy student, let alone a Genin. He had to wonder though, what had caused such a drastic shift in their attitude. Certainly it wasn't his changed appearance or Akai-chan…

After submitting their mission reports Kakashi dismissed Sakura and Sasuke while ordering Naruto to stay behind on the pretence that he should personally inform the Hokage of his 'bloodline limit'. Sasuke, who had activated his Sharingan was also about to stay but was again dismissed by Kakashi, who stated that the Sharingan was a well documented and thus really didn't need special attention. It went without saying that Sasuke was somewhat annoyed at Naruto hogging the spotlight, grumbling to himself he stalked out towards the Uchiha mansion. The clerk was feeling quite co-operative, especially after Naruto flashed him a fanged grin and narrowed his now crimson eyes, when Kakashi requested a private meeting with Hokage. After only a few minutes of waiting they were shown in the Hokage's office.

Moment of silence ensued… no one moved. Sandaime stared at Kakashi and Naruto, who stared back along with Akai, who was quickly growing bored at the silence. Deciding that it was prudent to show off she jumped down from the carrier and patted deliberately across the floor towards the frozen old man. She stopped few yards in front the man and curiously tilted his head… then with great concentration very carefully uttered "Konnichiwa ojisan!" Strutting proudly she whirled around and scampered back into the baby carrier.

The, now properly greeted, old man pinched himself under his robes. He had to be dreaming, no way had he just seen Uzumaki Naruto and Hatake Kakashi walk into his office with a baby fox that had promptly jumped forward and greeted him. That simply didn't, couldn't happen. He pinched himself again and finally resigned himself to the realization that it really had happened. Rubbing his temples the old man sat down with an audible sigh and spoke in his intercom ordering that he was not to be disturbed… this was going to be a long day.

After series of long winded explanations about Kyuubi, seals, cubs and so called bloodlines they finally got to the issue of Naruto's real family. Explaining just exactly why Naruto's lineage was kept a secret was surprisingly easy, the reasons being mostly what Kakashi had expected them to be. Naruto's father had made plenty of enemies, especially during the third shinobi war when he had single handedly eliminated a great number of enemy ninjas, and the families of those enemies might seek revenge on the survivor of the Kazama clan. There was also the fact that other ninja countries, while being 'allied' to Konoha, were not above trying to gain power by any means necessary. If they were to learn that Yondaime, who was considered to have been a genius, had a son who incidentally also held the Kyuubi sealed within him… the temptation for gaining such a powerful 'tool' could be overwhelming.

Naruto, flinching visibly at the word tool as it reminded him of Zabuza and how he had regarded Haku, almost missed the question that was directed to him. "So Naruto, now that you know, do you think you could keep this as a secret until such time that you are ready to assume your father's name?"

He began to nod vigorously. "Sure thing Hokage-ojisan, I've managed to get by on my own since I was kicked out from the orphanage… well I did get that allowance from you but…" He began to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. "I was just wondering. Kakashi-sensei told me that father had developed few neat jutsus, so maybe they would still be written down on some scrolls or something." Both of the older men could only smile when the embarrassment faded away to an eager expression that came from anticipation of learning new jutsus.

The chuckling Sandaime shook his head "Well… there certainly are matters pertaining onto your father's estate. The estate would consist of your father's house and the surrounding grounds, a reasonable amount of wealth and an assortment of scrolls, books and other effects. Seeing as you are a minor you would need…" he pointed at Kakashi. "…your legal guardian's, who at the moment is your uncle Hatake Kakashi, consent to take possession of any of the said items. The way things are I would suggest you don't move to your father's house until you become at least a Chuunin or we come up with a plausible explanation as to why Arashi chose to leave his house to you. As for the scrolls and books, they range from academy level to Hokage level jutsus so please be patient and let me and Kakashi hand them to you when we feel you are ready to learn them.

Naruto, fighting of a wave of depression from not being given any superpower jutsus on the spot, began to nod in consent. He was about to ask if he was dismissed when the Sandaime continued with questions. "Now Naruto, about that dream you and Kyuubi… shared. You said that there was a man with paleface, dark hair and yellow eyes correct?" At Naruto's nod he continued. "That description fits a missing nin of the leaf, and I was wondering if it was by any chance…" there was a poof of smoke "…this man?"

Naruto reeled back from the combined shock of suddenly seeing 'his' tormentor and from the unbridled rage he felt coming in waves from Kyuubi. Snarling he bared his fangs and clenched his now clawed hands "That's him… who is he?"

Sandaime Hokage, who by now had released the henge, sat back on his stair and began writing something. Peering up from the document he said "That would have been the likeness of Orochimaru, a former student of mine and one of the Sannin, a S-class missing nin. Most probably the others with him were members of a group called Akatsuki, which we sadly now very little of." turning back to the document at hand he soon finished it.

"Naruto, you are on this date ordered to seek out and eliminate Orochimaru and the Akatsuki for their crimes against Konoha. You will also fulfil your bargain with Kyuubi. So is ordered by the Hokage and information of this mission will be stored in the village archives." Smiling gently at the boy he continued. "By no means do I expect you to rush after Orochimaru anytime soon… He is way beyond the reach of our average Jounin and a brat, albeit a strong brat, would be only a minor irritation to him. This is an S-class mission without time limit so consider yourself under orders to grow stronger… Also the mission is highly confidential so don't go bragging about it."

Naruto, who was about to burst from excitement from receiving his first S-class mission, was about to object when called a brat but conceded that the old man was probably right. Besides he had just been ordered to get stronger so maybe he could cajole more of his father's jutsu from Kakashi. Shrugging he decided that it was about time for lunch, a decision that was hastened by a loud growl from his belly, he grabbed his backpack and requested a permission to leave. After a dismissive wave of hand and a suggestion, that should he hurry he might find his former teacher before he began his lunch break. Eager to get some free ramen out from Iruka he hastily departed leaving the two adults behind.

When the boy had vanished in a speed bordering supernatural Kakashi chuckled. "Seriously that kid, he just learned that he's got a nice inheritance and still he's eager for free ramen…" his good mood diminished considerably as he noticed the Sandaime's troubled expression. Raising an eyebrow at the old man he asked "So there's more trouble in the paradise?"

Rubbing his eyebrows the old man sighed. "Some things were brought to my attention and made me feel my age. Umino Iruka noted a discrepancy in Naruto's academy records. During his first year he was actually one of the better students, yet he had a punitive record that outstripped the rest of the class put together. He was punished repeatedly for failing test, not knowing things and the like. The interesting thing was that his grades fell from top three to the dead last position, yet his punitive record remained… only it went from failing things to disciplinary punishments."

He sighed again. "It would seem that some teachers deliberately picked on him, asking question that no first year student should know and punishing him hard for any shortcomings. As it was Iruka began to wonder exactly how badly Naruto was being treated by the villagers and suggested an experiment. Iruka and Konohamaru's tutor Ebisu spent the next day under henge posing as Naruto. They reported that they were driven out from most shops and from the Shinobi library of all places…" The old man stared at his desk, sometimes it was really hard to believe that the village was worth fighting for.

"I launched a subsequent investigation into Naruto's life after this and found out some disturbing things. For one, the boy has only been receiving his base Genin pay, no mission bonuses or anything, something that has now been dealt with… harshly. Naturally the accountants responsible only said something about an unfortunate oversight but changed their minds, confessed and began fervent repenting after spending some quality time with Morino Ibiki."

Tapping his lip thoughtfully he continued. "Actually this 'bloodline limit' might be a blessing in disguise, especially with the evidence, true or not, that would indicate Orochimaru's involvement in the whole Kyuubi attack. Seeing as I let a ordered a select few Jounins, who consider Naruto as a hero for keeping Kyuubi safely sealed away, ask questions along the lines of 'What if Naruto is driven to despair by his maltreatment and decides to unleash Kyuubi?'." The old man took a moment to fill his pipe before continuing.

"There was a noticeable shift in attitudes in only a few days time… probably mainly due the fact that those who have feared and hated him now fear the possible repercussions of their own actions more. And then those who have been neutral towards him or have not stood up on his behalf from the fear of being labelled as 'demon lovers' are now considering that it might be prudent to show some friendliness towards the boy."

Kakashi felt somewhat angered again by the sheer stupidity of the villagers, until he too realized that he had not taken any particular interest in his life, aside from trying to get him eat more fruit and the like. Sighing he wowed to himself that he would make it up for his nephew. "Well, if he's not been allowed in the Shinobi library I suppose suggesting that he study the basic jutsus that the library offers for Genins would be good way to begin his training?" Expecting an agreement and subsequent dismissal he was mildly surprised when the Hokage rose up and began to move towards the far wall.

"Kakashi, your orders to focus on the Uchiha survivor stand as they were. I understand that you would want to personally oversee the training of your nephew but you are the only one who can instruct Sasuke in the use of his Sharingan." Glancing at the Jounin to make sure his Sharingan was covered he began to furiously roll through combinations that would unlock the now revealed wall safe, not that he doubted Kakashi's loyalty to the village but he had stashed his precious, author signed, originals of 'Icha Icha Paradise' in the said safe…

"Of course, you may continue to instruct him on your own time… However I would suggest that you simply give him appropriate jutsu scrolls and delegate parts of his training regimen to others. I understand that Maito Gai has himself a hardworking pupil who is in need of an enthusiastic sparring partner…" Slamming the safe shut after retrieving three scrolls and a set of keys, he tossed them to the now visibly shivering Kakashi.

"Oh, Gai isn't all that bad you know… and what I gathered from your info about Naruto's Shinkugan ability, hardcore taijutsu training would be just the thing for him. And if you are wondering why, and what, I just gave you. There are scrolls for the 'Hiraishin' and 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin'… I don't expect Naruto to actually master the 'Hiraishin' anytime soon but he should start learning it. As for the special shuriken and kunai Arashi used to get the 'Hiraishin' to work… that third scroll contains the information to create the necessary seal on shuriken and kunai. The keys fit for Arashi's house, show it to Naruto sometime if you like." With a final dismissal Kakashi vanished in a puff of smoke leaving the Hokage in deep though.

Umino Iruka was about to dismiss his class for the duration of the lunch break when two things happened at once. The bell rang signifying end to the lesson and the door to his classroom burst open revealing a slightly panting, happily grinning Naruto. Iruka immediately began to do a mental estimate on how much of his money would soon line the pockets of Ichiraku Ramen's owner. He was brought out from his lamentations by a chorus of 'Ooh' and 'Ah' squeals that his female students, who had taken note of Akai-chan, were letting out with great intensity and volume. Befuddled he did a double take on Naruto, who ecstatic about the attention was in a proud tone explaining about Akai-chan and nin-animals in general. Suddenly the loss of hard earned money didn't feel so bad… There had to be a juicy story behind this all and he just had to hear it come hell or high ramen bill.

Naruto was more than happy to accompany the now curious Iruka to Ichiraku's. It had taken some time to evade the horde of young kunoichi potentials who were intent on petting Akai and to pry off Konohamaru, who had attached himself to Naruto's leg demanding to now where his 'oyabun' and eternal rival had acquired such a 'fearsome' assault animal. Twenty one bowls of ramen, three for Iruka and eighteen for Naruto and Akai, later Iruka was looking forlornly at his deflated wallet. The money had gone for a good purpose though as his former student was now contently sitting back and lazily petting his new companion. The story had been equally good… Iruka could hardly believe all the stuff Naruto had told. The said boy suddenly became thoughtful as he remembered something that had been nagging him the past few weeks. In a sufficiently loud voice and innocent tone he asked. "Ano Iruka-sensei… I've been wondering… what does 'masturbation' mean?"

Had he been eating at the time, Iruka would surely have choked on his ramen. As it was he only suffered from a combination of massive face fault and excessive sweat dropping. The old man Ichiraku, who despite the new look had quickly welcomed his best customer, chuckled slightly while the waitress Ayame gasped and then blushed bright red. Grabbing Naruto by the collar, the now very embarrassed, Iruka dragged him outside and to a side alley. Waving a finger in front of the amazed Naruto he began to lecture about proper behaviour in public. Naruto just blinked, had he said something wrong… all he did was ask a simple question. Voicing this though stopped Iruka, who peered at him incredulously. "You really mean you don't know what mas… erm that thing is?"

After indicating negative Naruto was again dragged away by Iruka, this time by hand, to a nearby bookstore. Steering Naruto towards a particular shelf Iruka began to browse through the titles. He found what he was looking for and went to find the cashier to pay for his purchase leaving Naruto to browse the shelf. There were many titles that he dismissed as outright weird or otherwise useless but few caught his attention. Deciding to visit the store at a later date he grabbed the one titled as 'Shinobi field operations for _Dummies_' and headed for the counter. Iruka, having waited for Naruto to pay for his purchase, handed him a book labelled 'Sex Ed. for _Dummies_'.

Clearing his throat he began "Naruto… you obviously are in the age where you need to know about… things. I would love to sit down and talk things through with you but my afternoon classes are starting soon and I can't skip them. This book should cover pretty much what I would say so read it and I'll be ready to answer any questions you might have later." he added a mental _-Hopefully…-_

Naruto was now blushing, he might not know what that 'masturbation' thingy was but he certainly knew the word sex. And judging by the reaction his question at the Ichiraku's caused, it most likely had to do something with sex. _-Ewww, gross… I hope that Kyuubi talking about things like that doesn't mean that she's a pervert!-_ Thoughts such as that didn't sit well with Kyuubi who began loudly object at the near blasphemous thought. Smirking at Iruka, and in his mind to Kyuubi, Naruto nodded and waved his goodbyes before heading home.

At home he found Kakashi, who had invited himself in through the window, sitting on his kitchen counter. After returning the shin-guards he had been using for the past weeks and receiving a pair of badly worn leather bracers and two scrolls he was ordered to show up at the bridge leading to training area twelve four thirty the next morning. With a "Also Naruto, you should start studying the jutsus available for Genins in the Shinobi Library." the lazy Jounin vanished leaving Naruto to wonder what the hell he was supposed to do at the bridge. He had things to do however so he promptly tossed his backpack to the corner, grabbed the bracers and led Akai out of the house.

He had noted, just as Kakashi had, that he needed new clothes. Deciding to take the more than subtly given advice and forego his usual orange jumpsuit he began to head at the only ninja equipment store in town that didn't treat him like trash. The store was run by an elderly couple who had, on the occasion he had been in need of gear, been quite polite, even friendly towards the boy. He had noticed for one that they sold him items for the actual price, instead the usual inflated price he was forced to pay in many stores. What best suited him at the moment was the fact that in addition to weapons, scrolls and assorted pieces of shinobi gear the store packed a selection of clothing designed specifically to meet the demands of ninjas.

He let himself be carried away by the mystery of the two new scrolls he'd gotten. The eager fox boy was so out of it that he didn't notice he was being tailed. A good fifty yards away was a shape moving from shadow to shadow, rooftop to rooftop. Nor did he realize that he was about to collide with someone until it was too late. After hitting dead on with someone he landed square on his butt and began to struggle to get up and apologize at the same time. Any apologies were effectively cut out by a loud "Kawaii" that made him positive that he had run into a girl and that the said girl had noticed Akai. Quite frankly he was amazed at what he called the 'Akai-chan syndrome' and it's effect to females in particular. Taking a good look at the person he had run in he recognized her as one of the girls in his class. _-I know her. She's one of Sakura's rivals in Sasuke fan-club… Ah yes, the 'Ino-pig'.-_

After helping the downed Yamanaka girl on her feet and making few moments of polite small talk, mostly about 'Sasuke-kun' and mostly because Ino didn't want to let go of the cute fox, Naruto tried again to retrieve Akai-chan and get away from the girl who was in the process of thoroughly petting the said animal. Ino had other plans though, running into Naruto was a stroke of luck seeing as how she could pump him for info regarding Sasuke-kun. Finding out more about the cute little thing Naruto had picked up somehow was an added bonus, she could use the animal as a pretence to visit Sasuke at Team Seven's training ground. Also like any other female of the human species, she was powerless to resist the idea of shopping, even shopping for someone else. She grabbed Naruto by the arm and dragged him towards the store, blissfully unaware of the mysterious person, hiding on the rooftop, glaring kunais at her back.

Almost two hours later a thoroughly exhausted Naruto, burdened by several bags, exited the shop. Ino had been almost as scary as Sakura-chan when she'd been selecting clothing for him. Seriously the girl was tyrant, though Naruto had to admit that his new wardrobe wasn't all that bad. His old blue sandals had been replaced by black ones, and he now wore black pants and ankle wrappings similar to those used by ANBU. The fishnet shirt with elbow length sleeves was something that, according to Ino showed off his 'well toned' arms. He had been dubious about that but had relented in the fear that opposing Ino too much could be as hazardous to his health as riling up Sakura. Covering his chest he had a sleeveless, dark grey vest that had, as the owners of the shop were proud to show, steel mesh woven into the fabric for additional protection and a collar that could be opened up to form a hood that would cover his entire head and face, effectively hiding his blonde hair. On his arms he wore dark brown, almost black bracers that now held the seal engraved training plates within them.

More curious was the contraption the store owner had made for Akai-chan. It was designed after the baby carrier, which while useful was still too bulky and 'colourful' to be used on missions. Now Akai was being carried around in a modified 'fox carrier', basically it was a long, padded bag that was semirigid on one side and could, depending on the situation easily and comfortably, for both Naruto and Akai, be positioned on any side of the carrier's body.

In addition to the two only slightly varied sets of clothing, another vest, selected at Ino's insistence, that was similar to one worn by her teammate Shikamaru, and a set of underwear. Naruto also bought a light gray jacket, complete with steel meshing. He did, when Ino was not looking, also slip a set of dark blue clothing, that was the identical to the ones worn by Kakashi and Iruka, into the growing pile of purchases. Finally having it all packed he politely refused any further offers of help, including ominous offer to redo his hairstyle, from Ino who seemed to be in a shopping induced frenzy.

Standing on the street outside the Shinobi'r'Us store and watching Ino bounce away humming a happy tune Naruto came to the conclusion that he would never ever understand girls… no females in general, and their weird fascination for shopping. He shuddered at the memory of the feelings of glee, and the multiple orders to pose in front of a mirror while trying on different clothes, that had come from Kyuubi… in Naruto's mind a serious blow to her image as a demon. Curiously, though he didn't notice it, the person who had been tailing him had vanished during his shopping spree. Also there was, though he didn't notice that either, a small pool of coagulating blood on a nearby rooftop. Unaware of these odd happenings he squared his shoulders and began to lug the rather heavy bags home.

After dinner, which he had made with his rather limited skills of cooking anything other than ramen, he decided that the jutsu scrolls could wait until next day and focused instead on the book Iruka had gotten him. After only a few minutes Naruto, now sweating and with a radiant blush, was thankfully interrupted by Akai who wanted her after dinner play. Tossing a squeaky ball for her to retrieve didn't ease Naruto's mind though and he soon decided to brave the book once more. Naruto managed to avoid death from nasal hemorrhaging, having his hair catch fire from blushing and dying by sheer embarrassment while reading the accursed book. He even began to wonder if using 'Oiroke no Jutsu' and 'Harem no Jutsu' was ethically acceptable… _-The odd thing is that Sasuke-teme didn't even bat an eye when I subjected him to 'Oiroke no Jutsu'… maybe he's one of those hmm, homosexuals or whatever. Or maybe having all those fangirls hanging on him since he was ten has made him resistant or something.-_

The predawn air was refreshing. Taking a deep breath Naruto stretched and let loose a contended sigh. It was almost four thirty, the time he was supposed to be here. Looking about he couldn't see, smell or hear anyone in the vicinity. There were faint sounds coming from, what he surmised was, training ground twelve. Why anyone would be training at this ungodly hour was a mystery to him though. Much to his amazement Kakashi arrived only few minutes after the set time. Foregoing the usual explanations for his tardiness, seeing as he had arrived miraculously on time, Kakashi began to lead his student towards the training ground.

Just before they got there Kakashi stopped Naruto and looked at him sternly. "Naruto, what I'm about to say is very important so listen carefully." He waved his hand in the general direction of the now quite audible noise of flesh hitting something hard. "You are going to attend extra taijutsu training every morning under the tutelage of Maito Gai. He is a taijutsu freak to be frank, and he's bit…" Kakashi cleared his throat before continuing

"…anyway, he knows a lot about different taijutsu styles and has a student who's in need of sparring partner. Now I want to stress out two very, very important things. First, he considers me as his 'eternal rival' and is always challenging me to these ridiculous contests… so do your best there and don't give him any reason to… challenge me more often. Second, now this is the most important thing I'm going to tell you. Even if he insists it's NOT okay to wear green spandex. On that note nice to see you looking like a real ninja by the way…"

_-Green spandex? what the hell has Kakashi gotten me into now… though I admit the part about this 'Gai' dude being a taijutsu freak sounds promising even if a bit intimidating.-_ Feeling Kyuubi think along the same lines he finally got the answer to his unvoiced question. He had found the Green Beast of Konoha. His reaction of _-Holy crap, it wasn't a joke…-_ was supplemented by a rather disturbing **_-Hmmmh… Nice butt.-_** from Kyuubi that forced him to suppress the urge to gag.

Loud yell of "Kakashi, my eternal rival!" was the beginning of bizarre, at least in Naruto's mind, events. After series of loud "Have you come to join the magnificent Rock Lee and myself in our quest for youthful passion." and "Ah the fire of youth!" and the like Gai finally calmed down enough to notice Naruto who had the look of a cornered animal in his eyes. Casting a questioning glance at Kakashi who replied with intricate hand gestures he turned towards Lee. "Lee, to better understand your youthful passion run two laps around Konoha." The said Genin struck his 'nice guy' pose, complete with the glittering teeth and then became a green blur as he vanished from sight.

Focusing on Naruto, the green clad Jounin became suddenly serious and business like. Short "Uzumaki Naruto-san?" was more statement than question, not like there were many blonde demon vessels in the greater Konoha area. Turning his eyes to Kakashi he asked "I take it that there is a reason you have brought this epitome of youthful passion, who is only rivalled by my very own Rock Lee, here this day… Perhaps you and he would like to join us in our pursuit of perfection?"

Kakashi nodded slightly "Gai, the Hokage has requested that you offer your assistance in bringing out the 'youthful' potential of my most 'excellent' pupil…" cringing beneath his mask he went on. "Naruto has an incredible potential in taijutsu because of his unique… destiny. I believe that with a little coaching he could advance rapidly and in turn offer your Lee a worthy sparring partner. I would note that you have my permission to run him to the ground if you can…" Seeing Gai nodding in ecstasy he turned to the now horrified Naruto and said "Well Naruto, it would seem that you will be training every day from four thirty to seven with Gai and Lee. Oh and Team Seven will meet for training tomorrow at seven thirty at the usual spot… don't be late now." the last part went unnoticed by Naruto who was going through a mantra of _-Shit, this isn't happening, this isn't happening-_ over and over in his mind.

He soon realized that Gai, or Gai-sensei as he came to call him soon enough, was talking to him. At the mention of training weights he showed his bracers and explained that they were a gift from the Yondaime who felt that he should get them as a compensation for his 'sacrifice'. Soon after this they were joined by Lee who immediately upon hearing that Naruto was to train with them began to greet his new training partner.

After that they got down to business. Naruto noted that Gai-sensei, while being… eccentric, was by no means stupid and knew his business. Five hundred kicks and punches later they had a break, after which Lee and Gai began to demonstrate basic taijutsu stances. Naruto was about to activate his Shinkugan but refrained from doing so by a sudden sting of guilt. He really didn't have any problems with using his eye ability against enemies but he felt as if he was somehow cheating his new partner and sensei out of their hard earned skills. Bringing attention to himself he proceeded to explain his doujutsu to the now very interested pair.

When he had reached the end of his explanation both Gai and Lee were in tears and bawling about "How the truthfulness of youth was glorious" and the like. Naruto got more than slightly nervous when they began to hug each other and then, he nearly flipped at this, included him into a fierce group hug. After they had calmed, both of them vehemently insisted that he keep his eye ability activated as it would still require 'flames of passion and hard work' to gain any advantage. And then they trained…

Naruto's schedule remained pretty much constant after that. His rigorous sparring sessions with Gai and Lee in the morning were followed by a quick shower and hasty sprint to Team Seven's meeting place. After which they would either practice for several hours or do a mission or possibly both. He had also read the 'Shinobi field operations' guide and had subsequently purchased more books suggested by the author. He also spent time trying to understand 'Hiraishin no jutsu' but made little progress, he did discern that some special seals or marking were imperative to the process. When asked about this Kakashi produced a set of shuriken and kunai engraved with the necessary seal, and gave what precious few bits of advice he had regarding the jutsu. He made more progress with the 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin' that was really nothing more than an extension to his favourite jutsu, he was at the point where he could impress even Kakashi with the sheer number of shuriken clones he could create. Naruto also spent some of his time studying some basic Genin level jutsus, he really didn't bother learning them but rather tried to focus on knowing and identifying them.

Another positive development was his fast building friendship with Lee, who despite patterning himself after Maito Gai, was an overall nice guy. They had lot in common actually, both were considered dropouts and were dead set on proving their Nindo. They both worked hard and in an interesting note had similar experiences of being teamed with the 'Rookie of the year' of their respective groups. They also compared their training weights, Naruto trying to walk around wearing the insane leg weights that Lee used without any discomfort and Lee testing out Naruto's bracers. He was impressed with them and promptly asked if Naruto knew where to get more such 'magnificent' items. Naruto promised to look into the matter but couldn't guarantee that he would be able to procure another pair for Lee.

Getting to know Lee better also lead into another development, within the week Naruto noticed that, he was spending another three hours every evening sparring with the ever energetic taijutsu expert and it paid of too… big time. He could literally feel himself growing stronger and faster, forcing him, much to Kakashi's amazement, up his weights again. And then there was the fact that his taijutsu was improving so fast that Lee had to actually stop holding back slightly.

Naruto was feeling cheery. He was full of delicious ramen that he had devoured in vast quantities after returning from yet another successful and exciting mission. It had been the 'visit the beach' day for Konoha's pre-schoolers and the lucky Team Seven had been selected for lifeguard duty. It had been moderately fun to watch Sasuke brag about his swimming skills and then leave him to pick his jaw from the ground when Naruto had swiftly run across the water's surface to rescue the one and only potential victim of the day.

Because it had been such a good day Naruto was feeling playful and decided to 'notice' Konohamaru who had been 'shadowing' him for the last few days. Not that Naruto really minded playing with Konohamaru and the 'trio of terror', but things had really been busy. This didn't really matter to Konohamaru who beyond excited about the cool eyes and the fierce and powerful assault animal his 'yoabun' had acquired. Sighing inwardly he promised to that he would play ninja the following day, and decided to actually spill the beans to Konohamaru motioning the eager kid to follow him to their special training site.

After a few moments of tense silence Naruto asked his loyal follower what he knew about the Kyuubi. He quickly received the patented tale of Yondaime's heroic battle with the demon and subsequent victory and death. Lifting Konohamaru by the neck he placed the kid on the ground before himself and while staring him in the eyes said in a low voice. "That's not the whole truth… Kyuubi didn't die, she was simply sealed away. Sealed into the bellybutton of a newborn child… namely… me… Uzumaki Naruto.

Konohamaru was gaping at Naruto, the silence continued unbroken until slowly he turned his eyes towards Akai, who was currently asleep in her pouch, then back to Naruto's face. He repeated this process several times and then began to shake. With a loud yell of "NO!" he turned and ran from the clearing leaving behind a heartbroken Naruto. _-Maybe it's true, maybe I'll never be accepted.-_

What Naruto didn't know was that the person who had been stalking him on several different occasions had also cried out in denial for the confession before wheeling around and running. He didn't know because the said person had been a good hundred yards away from Naruto and Konohamaru and because Naruto was so immersed in his own misery that he didn't notice another person approaching until he heard a warning yap from Akai.

Instincts kicking in he rolled forward and turned around in mid roll ending in a loose ready position, ready to attack, defend or retreat as required. He relaxed when he noticed that the only person on the clearing was Ebisu, the closet pervert and Konohamaru's tutor. He failed to notice however that instead of the cold glaring eyes he'd been sporting before there was now a healthy dose of admiration in those eyes. Clearing his throat Ebisu spoke. "He's young you know. Give him some time to think it over and I'm sure he'll be back to begging you to play ninja as usual."

When Naruto only shook his head sadly the elite Jounin walked forward and ruffled the blonde's hair. This caused the boy look up in amazement, was this really the same stuck up closet pervert who'd stated that 'spending time with the likes of Naruto only served to make you dumber'?

"It was a brave thing Naruto-kun… you really should hint that maybe Kyuubi wasn't on her right mind when she attacked, that would help too. But right now the little whelp needs time to sort out his feelings." He then walked to the nearby wending machines and popped out two cans of soda. Tossing one to Naruto he sat on the nearby log. "Seriously, Konohamaru has changed after he met you. Before it was hard to get him to train and now… it's hard to get him stop training. He used to idolize the Yondaime, now it's you. And then you go and drop a bomb like that on his lap without any warning…" Smiling again the 'closet pervert' shook his head. "I'll talk to him tonight, or Hokage-sama will and by tomorrow he'll be pestering you about your 'assault animal'…" Finishing his soda he turned to leave "So don't worry Naruto-kun… you will prove that you are not the 'monster fox' and people will change and believe you… I know I did." with that he vanished, presumably to track down his wayward student.

Akai-chan decided that her Naru-onichan needed some comforting and began softly nuzzle her head against Naruto's cheek. The act had the desired effect as it brought out a bitter laugh followed by a slight smile. "I'm really pathetic aren't I neechan? Me, the one person who should know better than to hold prejudice against others, expecting a small kid to instantly process something that would probably cause brain overload on most adults. I owe him at least the benefit of a doubt… right?" He was only responded by a more resolute head butting which meant that playtime was about to begin...

He was happily surprised when, come next day he was again being shadowed by a suspicious looking, square 'rock' that moved on its own. Whispering few choice instructions to Akai he let the small kitsune ambush the 'rock' in question. After being surprised by a sudden pounce of the fierce Akai, The infamous Konohamaru corps made their appearance… namely they crawled out from underneath the box. Their loud demands about playing ninja made Sakura wonder exactly how, and why would a ninja go about 'playing ninja'. She was in a bad mood anyway, Sasuke had turned down yet another offer for a date and what was worse stated said that he considered Naruto to be more capable a ninja than her. She didn't even realize that she was staring at Naruto while thinking _-I'm below… him?-_ the whole time.

This caused Konohamaru, who was at the time whispering his apologies to Naruto, draw several wrong conclusions. Tapping Naruto on the hand he 'whispered' "Not bad bro… she's your… this?" and whipped out a pinky. The chain of events that followed was only natural when dealing with something as volatile as Sakura's temper. Naruto, noticing the danger signs denied that he was associated with Sakura in any romantic way, which caused Konohamaru to again 'whisper' "Heh, I knew you could do better than some flat-chested forehead girl."

Slowly, as if moving away from a snake that was ready to strike Naruto began backing away from a very scary looking Sakura… and then bolted along with the whole Konohamaru corps. Naruto knew by instinct that no excuse would save him from a severe beating, even if he was innocent. Sakura would only say something along the lines that he'd influenced the brats or whatever. And they ran, until Konohamaru bumped into someone, a boy wearing makeup and a Sand Hitai-ate, who quickly grabbed the startled kid by his long scarf and pulled him into air. Naruto, upon seeing the struggling Konohamaru quickly flashed his signature hand seal and charged yelling "Hey fatass! Let go of him."

He didn't make it to the stranger when suddenly something, guided by the 'makeup boy's' finger movements, tripped him. Smiling conceitedly he exclaimed "Konoha Genins are weak!" his smile faltered though, when 'Konohamaru' opened his mouth to display impressive fangs which he promptly sunk into the offending weirdo's hand. Yelling in pain the weirdo dropped the brat and swiftly placed a kick on his midsection causing a poof of smoke from a vanishing clone. Looking about he saw the small brat, the blonde brat, a pink haired brat and two other brats standing some distance from him. Basically he hated brats, especially the blonde who was grinning widely, so it was prudent to teach them a lesson… Not listening to the companion's objections he whipped out the strange package he was carrying and was about to… do something when he was interrupted by yet another stranger.

A red haired boy, who was hanging from a nearby tree, instantly brought out the scent of fear from the two other Sand nins. Naruto could also feel hair rising at the back of his head… there was something about this guy. These thoughts were mirrored by Kyuubi who was pacing nervously about in her cage. **"Kit! Activate the Shinkugan, there's a familiar and repulsive feel about this one… and be careful."** Now quite cautious, Naruto channelled chakra into his eyes and instantly saw something 'wrong' with the boy. The gourd that was on the boy's back was alive… it moved constantly forming shapes of what looked like, well he really didn't know what they looked like. He deactivated and reactivated his eyes just to make sure he wasn't seeing things… He wasn't, Kyuubi's growling was a sure sign of that. **"Grrrrr that mad raccoon, beware that one kit. He carries a Bijou within him just like you, with the exception that his is quite insane… and judging from his insomniac looks and the look the gourd, only partially contained."**

After a lengthy conversation with Kyuubi, Naruto was brought back to the world of the living by Konohamaru who was tugging his hand and muttering about Sasuke stealing the show from him. Blinking Naruto took note that there indeed was Sasuke, playing the hero and questioning the Sand ninjas as if he was the sole guardian of Konoha. After a short introductions a staring match ensued between, the newly introduced, Sabaku no Gaara and Sasuke. Few moments of mutual staring passed until Gaara whirled around and turned to leave only to be interrupted by a yell of "Hey! Hey! What about me?" from Naruto.

Shrugging in disdain Gaara dismissed him with a short… "You got lucky with Kankuro, I'm not interested in the likes of you." …that died in his throat, when Naruto tapped into Kyuubi's chakra and took a step forward. Gaara took a step too… only backwards, the guy he had pegged as a weak was now suddenly radiating power, power that sent Shukaku in insane whimpers of fear. And Shukaku feared nothing.

Temari and Kankuro also reeled back from the blonde, having spent time with Gaara they instantly recognized the 'feel' of demonic chakra. Both lived in constant fear of Gaara snapping and feeding them to his sand, and now… Gaara had the same look of fear in his eyes. Kankuro gulped and began to make up plausible excuses to skip the exam. The prospect of facing someone who could instil fear in his little brother, someone he had just insulted, in combat didn't sound too good.

Sasuke simply dismissed Naruto as a showoff, using some weird genjutsu or something to create that odd distortion behind him… _-Pfft, wasting his time trying to look good or whatever… He should practice more or he'll be a liability in this Chuunin exam… that is if he's even allowed to participate.-_ At that he turned around without saying anything and began to stalk away from the others.

Sakura and Konohamaru corps simply stared in bewilderment at the odd behaviour of Suna nins. Though Konohamaru had an inkling as to what Naruto had just pulled on them, he still couldn't bring himself to understand why the Sand trio would react as they had. Oh well, time to do something about it. "You show them boss! We're counting on you!"

Naruto, thinking that he had Gaara's attention, stopped using Kyuubi's chakra and walked past the other Jinchuuriki saying "We need to talk… in private." Not stopping to see if Gaara was following he began walking towards Team Seven's training grounds. He smiled inwardly as he heard Gaara say "You two tell Baki that I'll be… late." and then the sound of footsteps, following him.

It didn't take much talking, really the mention of words like 'possesion' and 'partially contained', did the trick and soon enough Naruto was staring at very small seal positioned on the left side of Gaara's chest. **-This brat is lucky that Shukaku is completely insane, that's a three point seal that could barely hold a lesser demon. I guess that it's hard for the damnable raccoon to concentrate on anything for any given length of time. Should a more complex seal be placed over the existing, and quite shoddy I'd say, seal it should effectively contain the bastard raccoon.-**

Gaara readily, after assurances that he would most likely retain the use of his sand, agreed. Getting rid of the insane cackling, whispers and being able to sleep without the fear of having his personality devoured simply sounded too tempting. Also Shukaku was ranting and whimpering in fear about escaping the horrible beast and so on. To Gaara it was a payback of sorts to let the bastard suffer.

The following day at midnight Gaara, Naruto, Kakashi and the Hokage met at same training ground. After few questions from the old man and Kakashi they proceeded with the sealing. The process consisted of Gaara removing his shirt, Kakashi painting several seals and circles, which Kyuubi using Naruto as a proxy checked and the actual sealing, performed by the Sandaime. All in all, the whole event was quite unremarkable were it not for the fact that there were two Jinchuuriki present.

Having put on his shirt, and noticing that his sand still responded to commands, he turned to everyone present. Fixing his gaze at Naruto he offered, probably for the first time in his life, a profound thank you and then vanished in a whirl of sand.

Gaara slept like a baby that night, it had taken some effort to actually fall asleep after a lifetime of forced insomnia though… Incidentally Kankuro, Temari and Baki were wide awake and on high alert, ready to run far and fast should Suna no Shukaku decide to come out and play. They didn't sleep a wink and almost suffered a nervous breakdown when Gaara, yawning contently, emerged from his bedroom and offered them a good morning of all things.

Kakashi was late and Sakura was bored, Sasuke was keeping up his cold façade and only responded with single words in reply for all her queries. Something really was missing but she couldn't quite figure out what it was. Sighing he noticed that Naruto had positioned himself comfortably against a tree and was reading something… again. Then she realized what was missing, Naruto wasn't bugging her like usual, he hadn't asked her for dates after their mission to wave country either. Suddenly a horrible idea formed in her mind. _-He's been reading those yellow and black books everyday since we got back from Wave Country… could it be that he's turning into a pervert like Kakashi-sensei. I'll beat the daylights out of him if it's a dirty book… that moron is so expressionable.-_

With that she stormed to now alarmed looking Naruto and grabbed the book and began waving it about. "Now you listen to me Naruto, just because you aren't as good as Sasuke-kun you still don't need to go try and gain sensei's favour by reading dirty books like him!" She pointedly dismissed any objections and continued. "See Naruto, you should just train more, you can't learn anything from reading books like…" She took a look at the title and ended, now surprised tone. "…these. Why the hell are you reading 'Basic first aid and field medicine for _Dummies_'?"

Naruto tried to grab the book from now utterly dumbfounded Sakura and explained. "Well you see Sakura-chan, I read this book about basic field operations and situations that you might encounter while on missions. The author suggested additional reading and this book was among the list… I'm just 'expanding' my horizons or whatever"

Nodding dumbly Sakura handed the book back to Naruto and turned on her heel and walked, almost mechanically, towards another tree. She sat down in deep thought _-Naruto is... growing up or something. He's not the same Naruto that left with us to the Wave, maybe that first real brush of death changed him more than I realized.-_ hanging her head at the scolding from 'Inner Sakura' _-Maybe I really should stop putting him down so much, I mean Sasuke-kun is probably right. Naruto might… no Naruto is stronger than me. I know, I'll take Sasuke-kun's advice and train harder, I'll even ask Naruto for some training advice… if he can become strong the surely the most beautiful and talented Kunoichi in Konoha can!-_ She cheerer up at the thought, the loud "HELL YEAH" from her inner self also helped, and subsequent dreams in which Sasuke noticed her strength and professed undying love… Sighing and blushing she again wondered where on earth was Kakashi.

The man in question was not far from the meeting place, he was busy though. He'd seen a girl with cyan hair and simply had to reread a part from 'Icha Icha Paradives vol. II' that depicted a girl with similar hair doing intresting… things. After some time of blushing beneath his mask and giggling almost girlishly Kakashi checked the time and decided that he was sufficiently late. He appeared a moment later at the meeting place only to be knocked over by a loud yell of "YOU'RE LATE!". After making his patent excuses of cats, old ladies and the road of life in general he handed his students some papers. "I've nominated you guys to the Chuunin selection exam. I know this is sudden but here are your applications… It's up to you if you decide to show up or not. If you decide to attend, turn in your registration form at room 301 in the academy by four pm. tomorrow." He fixed them with a lazy stare. "Anyway you'll need a Genin leader for the test so…"

His gaze turned from Sasuke, who simply said. "Psth, naturally it should be me… and you two better not hold me back." to Sakura "Sasuke-kun is the strongest and the best and he's a leader!" to Naruto who remained quiet for some time. "If Sasuke wasn't on this team I'd nominate Sakura for leader… she's smartest and not prone to rushing into dangerous situations, but she'd do anything Sasuke would tell her to do regardless of the consequences and thus it'd be a liability to have her as leader. Sasuke is strong all-around, but on the other hand would simply rush into things and leave his team fend for themselves, he considers us as dead weight anyway." He ignored a freezing glare from Sasuke and dodged a blow aimed for his head from Sakura. "As for me… I have keen senses that would be good for scouting and such, have been training other stuff too but I don't know much about leadership or anything and would probably rush into a dangerous situation too so… I guess we've lucked out?"

Kakashi was positively surprised at Naruto's blunt admission of his shortcomings, and how he had pointed out strengths and weaknesses in his teammates. He called for a vote and not surprisingly the vote was Naruto: 1 – Sasuke: 2… until he, much to Sakura's objection decided to give his vote to Naruto. With the score now being tied he suggested that they do a light sparring match using no weapons and only simulating offensive jutsus. It was time to see if Naruto had actually learned anything fancy after receiving his 'gifts' from Kyuubi.

The pair faced off and Sasuke, certain of his victory didn't even bother to activate his Sharingan. Not that the Sharingan would have helped him but at least he would have picked up a new technique. Going through his signature move Naruto made four kage bunshins appear, then flashing through another set of hand seals he exclaimed "Kiri Gakure no Jutsu" releasing a massive amount of thick mist that quickly enveloped the area.

Sasuke was momentarily taken back by the sudden appearance of the mist. _-So the dope has learned a new jutsu, I guess miracles do happen.-_ He rushed around, fist leading at the sound from behind him only to be caught from behind by multiple hand and legs that tied him down, he tried to struggle but to no avail as the kage bunshins swarmed over him. And then the mist cleared… there was the rookie of the year, prodigy of the vaunted Uchiha clan, Uchiha Sasuke… held down by three grinning bunshins while the fourth had its arm pulled back fist ready to strike.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when a "Give up Sasuke, or do I have to knock your lights out?" came from behind her. There was the real Naruto grinning widely and petting his cute fox. Receiving no answer from the boiling Sasuke, he looked at Kakashi who declared Naruto as the winner of the match and as the new Genin leader of Team Seven. Standing up and glaring kunais at the happy Naruto Sasuke grumbled something about "You caught me by surprise… it won't happen again dead last." to which Naruto only sniffed an indifferent. "Doesn't matter, I won this one… subordinate-kun."

When Team Seven arrived at the room 301 Naruto was in a really good mood. He'd totally humiliated Sasuke by politely asking Lee not to damage his 'sidekick' before the exam when he'd challenged Sasuke. Lee getting the hint had happily agreed and added a needled barb of "Guess he isn't as tough as he's said to be, what with losing to you in a simple taijutsu." Naruto had only smiled angelically and nodded in consent. At the door they were greeted by Kakashi who happily stated "Oh… so Sakura came too? Now we can properly take the exam. This test can only be taken in teams of three but you all came of your own free will, you guys make me proud… now GO!"

Team Seven entered the room leaving Kakashi behind in deep thought. _-I may have said that they are ready, but… even those fearless kids may be shaking in their boots right now-_ his morbid thoughts were cut like a lightning by Naruto's loud voice

"MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS!"

He sweat dropped, the Chuunin selection exam had begun…

**TBC… **(later this week or early next week…)

Oyabun would stand for boss… or something

and if you don't know what konnichiwa means...

Author's rant.

Now first I need some info from you esteemed readers:

1) Does Sasuke refer Naruto as dobe or dope… I was partial to dobe but my Mickeysoft Word didn't recognize it as a word and neither did any online dictionaries I tried, they did however say that dope would stand for a stupid person; a dolt.

2) Anyone know was that whole bridge guarding mission ranked as A or B mission. Kakashi said that it was a potential B mission but…

3) If anyone has any twisted ideas about pranks Naruto should pull of… feel free to notify me. I already got Jiraiya pegged with spiked sake, ultimate taijutsu and a strategically placed bunshin :p

If you wonder what ANBU wears there's a neat picture of Kakashi in ANBU getup with his ninkens on chapter90 of manga… I thought that the pants especially looked pretty cool and stuff. Also I apologize if I offended any members of the fairer sex by stating that they are shopping crazy (I just witnessed a post x-mas sale and I can tell you it wasn't a pretty sight… Like sharks after a shipwreck they were I tell you!)

Naruto is being stalked? Who is it? Why was there blood on roof? DUNDUNDUN… Stay tuned and find out if you didn't guess already.

Uhhum, this chapter came out kinda long or something. There's not much action here… only Naruto biting Kankuro and then grappling Sasuke (which is conveniently covered by mist). Take heart, there'll be more action in the next chapter which will have the 1st and 2nd parts of the Chuunin exam and the downtime before the 3rd part preliminaries.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 4: The Forest of Death or 'how to give snakes lethal indigestion'

Sasuke was mildly annoyed… no he was actually very annoyed. Since he'd lost to Naruto the previous day he'd been pondering the enigma that was this 'new and improved' dobe. First he'd pulled out a technique used by another village, something he was sure the moron hadn't picked up just by seeing Zabuza perform it once. Then he'd exhibited a great amount of stealth and had actually managed to pull one over, and humiliate, him… _-I'm going to squeeze out the info about his new skills after or during this damn exam. I just wish he would shut up about being the leader of my team… Obviously just a fluke but still it makes me look bad.-_

He had been dead set on doing the said squeezing after his match with Naruto the previous day but the dobe had simply vanished afterwards. He wasn't even at the Ichiraku's, nor was he home or in any of his usual training spots. Sasuke had abandoned his search well after nine, only to miss the object of his fervent search returning from a psyching session, which involved only slight warm-ups, with Lee and Gai-sensei. When Naruto had appeared to the academy there wasn't the time, or the privacy, to grill him about his abilities and Sasuke was yet again forced to delay the inevitable. He vowed that the dobe's secrets would be his soon enough…

After entering he'd gotten to a slightly better mood though. There had been a slight scuffle at the door to the fake room 301 which had been stopped by a weird green spandex wearing Genin. Then he'd met someone who really piqued his interest… Hyuuga Neji, last years 'Rookie of the year' and reputedly the greatest genius born in the Hyyuga clan in a hundred years, incidentally Sasuke was appalled that someone could be so arrogant and overconfident as the said boy was… nonetheless here, finally, was someone worthy to fight. Naruto had naturally ruined the moment by giving an order, an order… of "Stop that pointless staring contest and let's go already". His mood, already sufficiently dark, was about to get worse when Lee appeared and challenged him to a fight… that was prevented by Naruto who politely asked Lee not to damage his SIDEKICK. He'd been seething since then, devising ways to make Naruto suffer…

The said boy was in a tight spot at the moment. Ino had jumped out of the blue and latched herself to Sasuke squeaking a delighted "Sasuke-kun you are late!... You too Naruto-kun!" which caused an instant reaction from Sakura who jumped to defend her claim on Sasuke. Naruto felt threatened, he was in between two scary girls who would probably beat him into a pulp if he sided with either one. Luckily he was rescued by appearance of Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji who were soon followed by Team Eight. Using the distraction that these new arrivals caused Naruto was able to slip away from the bickering girls and into relative safety of the other rookies.

Inuzuka Kiba, or dogboy as Naruto dubbed him, was bragging to Sasuke about how they had trained a lot and would kick everyone's ass. So Naruto decided that a loud "Shut up! Sasuke might lose, but I won't lose to the likes of you!" was in order. His proclamation was answered by very faint and stuttering voice belonging to Hyuuga Hinata who was, in his opinion a weird and shy girl who always looked away when he looked at her… Kyuubi giggled for some reason at this mental description of the girl.

Keeping her eyes downcast, and using all her willpower not to faint or get yet another nosebleed… the images of Naruto in the process of removing his pants was permanently imprinted into her mind, she managed to stutter out a "Gomen Naruto-kun, Kiba-kun didn't mean it in that way…" which caused Kiba to raise an eyebrow at her _-Damn, there she goes again… can't she realize that if she wants to make me jealous she should pick someone more plausible as a fake target of affection than that moron…-_

The third member of Team Eight, Aburame Shino didn't say anything but took note of Kiba's reaction. _-Damn, there he goes again… why is he so dead set on the idea that Hinata-chan is in love with him and is only trying to make him jealous by getting all tongue tied on the mere mention of Naruto. Seems that Naruto is over Sakura too… this could get messy if he realizes that Hinata is head over heels for him and decides that he too might like her.-_

The situation was escalating, Hinata had let out a surprisingly loud "Kawaii!" after having noticed Akai-chan peeking from her carry pouch and had made beeline towards the said fox. Kiba, and to an extent Akamaru who immensely enjoyed the prolonged petting sessions he got from Hinata, instantly felt surges of jealousy and rushed forward to protect their interests causing Shino to move forward and restrain the dogboy and his dog. Hinata on the other hand suddenly became aware that she was only an arms length away from the object of her affections and petting something that she had snatched from… from Naruto-kun. Mortified by the situation she was barely able to hear Naruto who was currently saying something about "…Akai-chan and I think she likes you…" promptly handed the fox back to Naruto while sputtering out apologies and then quickly hid behind Shino's back.

This volatile situation was defused by the arrival of a silverhaired Genin who introduced himself as Kabuto and warned them against attracting too much attention. He then proceeded to explain how he was a seventh time veteran and volunteered to give a few tips to the rookies of the bunch. He then flashed out a deck of cards and began to explain how his 'nin-info cards' worked.

Soon enough Sasuke was hooked and asked "Do you have individual info cards? And if so would you happen to have info on Sabaku no Gaara of the Sand, Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto of the Leaf?"

Kabuto nodded and said "You have their names… should be easy then." whipping out cards on Lee and Gaara he explained the basics on them. When he was about to turn over Naruto's card the foxboy in question decided to cut in "You know Sasuke-teme, if you want to know about me… you could just ask"

Kabuto raised an eyebrow over his glasses. "You are Naruto-kun?" Seeing him nod he quickly scanned the contents of the card and looked over at the boy again. "There's some interesting stuff in this card…" he nodded towards the other rookies "…is it ok for me to show it to them?"

Naruto pondered for a moment, there could be stuff about Kyuubi there though he doubted that. "Can I see it first?" he asked and was immediately given the card. Looking it over he handed it back to Kabuto and shrugged. "Yeah, sure… though I think that bit about my academy graduation is supposed to be classified or something. But then again, maybe not…"

This conversation had naturally piqued everyone's curiosity and they were now dying to see the card, especially Sasuke who was ready to make a grab for the said card had Naruto declined to show it. Whipping the card around Kabuto held it up for everyone to see. "Uzumaki Naruto: Worst in his class in every subject. His graduation from the academy was rather unusual as well… after failing to produce a viable Bunshin during the exam he was tricked by a teacher to break into the Hokage tower and steal a forbidden scroll of seals. He then saved another teacher and defeated the traitor using 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' a Jounin level technique that he'd mastered in space of few hours."

Checking the card again for more info he continued. "After graduating was placed into Genin Team Seven. Mission record is: D-rank 19, B-rank 1, A-rank 1. Wow successfully completed A and B rank missions as a Genin, that's fairly unusual…" He stopped for a moment "According to my info his taijutsu and ninjutsu are average at best and genjutsu below that, he hasn't been rated for those recently though so it's hard to say… hmmm… it also says here that he has recently activated a dormant bloodline limit which grants him enhanced senses… Not bad." Raising an eyebrow in surprise he continued "Stamina and chakra are off the charts for a Genin, probably somewhere between Chuunin and Jounin… also report from his teachers and Jounin instructor states that he is 'loud'."

Flipping Naruto's card back into the deck he looked back at the rookies who were more or less intimidated by the realization that they were in a serious situation and would be competing against the best the other villages would have to offer… Naruto had even begun to shake making Kabuto think that maybe he wasn't so confident as he was reputed to be. Sakura was about to cheer him up when the blonde let loose a deafening "MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU BASTARDS!" followed by a loud "YOU GOT THAT!" and a delighted "Ahh… that felt great!"

This bold, others would describe it as suicidal, declaration caused a multitude of reactions. Gaara simply shrugged, he wasn't going to pick a fight with other Jinchuuriki, and told his brother to shut up and stay away from Naruto. Neji scoffed when Lee pumped his fist in the air and declared something about the power of youth and Naruto in particular while Tenten simply shrugged. Kiba was sort of pissed for Naruto hogging the spotlight but decided that it would only make him look worse when he'd get his butt kicked later in the exam. As for the rest, Ino bonked Sakura on the head after she stated that "Naruto is too stupid to be intimidated." and Hinata was simply blushing and twiddling her fingers while repeating _-Naruto-kun... so strong… brave… Naruto-kun…-_ in her mind.

Some punks from the hidden sound also took offence, whether it was from Naruto's challenging outburst or from stating that the Hidden Sound was a minor and insignificant village, and picked a fight with Kabuto… only to be interrupted by a poof of smoke and a loud. "Quiet down you worthless bastards!" The smoke soon cleared revealing a group of Chuunins led by a large, scarred man who introduced himself as Morino Ibiki, the head examiner for the first test.

After everyone was seated Naruto heard a faint, he probably would have missed it was it not for his enhanced hearing, "Naruto-kun…" that caused him to turn to see a blushing Hinata, something which confused him to no end… the girl was acting like lovesick, albeit shy fangirl and that just didn't make any sense. "Let's do our best" came out in a stuttering voice to which Naruto replied with an absent nod, he was at the time trying to badger Kyuubi into helping with the test. Continuing his argument with the demon fox he, in an effort to get more comfortable as it was somewhat hot in the classroom, removed his vest causing, much to Kyuubis amusement, a stifled gasp from blushing Hinata who quickly covered her nose with a handkerchief. On a related note, there were similar reactions from several other females who got a good view of Naruto in a revealing fishnet shirt.

Not soon after Ibiki had explained the rules of the exam making Naruto sweat lightly from the intense killer intent that was flowing towards him from two distinct sources...namely his teammates. After the exam begun Naruto quickly scanned the questions with Kyuubi, who after some coaxing had agreed to help… although Naruto couldn't for the life of him understand why Kyuubi would want to be called 'Kyuu-chan the greatest scientific genius in the universe' before agreeing to help, he shrugged it off as a probable 'girl thing'. The questions were hard, too hard for most Genin and there was something weird about the 10th question.

"**There's a catch here kit, there's something about that 10th question… hmm most curious. Anyway you could just take a nap and we'll answer that last question correctly… saves us the trouble of writing all sorts of complicated equations on the small amount of space allotted."** With that and a small giggle Kyuubi was again immersed in her plan to make Naruto realize that Hinata had a crush on him… and dreaming about the power of 'grandchildren' with a combination of Byakugan and Naruto's demonic blood… she let out loose another barrage of giggles causing Naruto to wonder just what the hell was the damn fox plotting.

He soon got bored though, napping just wasn't an option when there was so much tension in the air. Not to mention that the killer intent he'd felt earlier had intensified when he had tried to take a nice nap. Deciding to be creative he began to doodle on the answer boxes, blissfully unaware that Hinata could see what he was doing with her Byakugan and was mortified by this carefree attitude. A soft whisper of "Naruto-kun… you can look at my test" from his right side interrupted his doodling. Quickly glancing over he noticed a blushing, as per usual, Hinata who was holding out her test paper for him to see and whispering "You can look at my answers… Naruto-kun"

He quickly declined, hastened by the scratching of pens he heard from the 'watchdogs', explaining that he was just passing time until he got the last question and pointing out that she might get into trouble from helping him. He was confused by Hinata again though, no one had ever offered to do something like this for him, more he thought about it the louder Kyuubi's giggles, snorts and outright laughter got… the bastard fox obviously knew but didn't volunteer info. He went through a myriad of reasons but none of them seemed to fit. _-Maybe she was trying to set me up with false info or something…but that doesn't seem to me like something Hinata would do. Heh, maybe she's in love with me or something…-_ shaking his head in amusement he dismissed the idea as absurd and continued his artistic work.

Some time and several abstract pieces of art later, the head examiner Morino Ibiki, announced his do or die rule for the 10th question. Naruto tensed initially but soon relaxed as Kyuubi explained her theory of the question **"Quite clever this human, I bet he's using this as a trick question to see who's willing to risk it all to continue… It might be enjoyable to talk with this one someday he seems well versed in psychology."** The now reassured Naruto raised his hand and then slammed it into the table yelling "Don't underestimate me, I will not run and even if I will remain Genin forever I'll still become Hokage somehow… I'm not afraid!"

This caused the tension to deflate instantly and made Ibiki cringe as the few who had been teetering on the edge of giving up apparently grew a spine after Naruto's outburst. He smiled and said "You all who stayed have now passed the first part of the exam…" and began to explain exactly why they had passed while taking note that Naruto had started furiously scribbling something to his test sheet. _-Interesting guy, this Uzumaki Naruto…-_

Ibiki had just wished them luck when a ball of cloth shot through the window, and then with the help of several kunai turned into a banner, heralding the entrance of the examiner of the second test… Mitarashi Anko. The examiner was quite baffled when there was almost no reaction from the group who had the collective thought of _-Sheesh, she's just as loud as that blonde moron-_ running through their minds, but shrugged it off and began to question Ibiki about why there were so 26 teams still left, followed by a statement that she would reduce the numbers by at least half. After that she gathered the Chuunin hopefuls, of whom some were quite anxious by that last statement, and led them towards training area 44 leaving behind Ibiki in the now empty classroom.

Ibiki, his curiosity roused by Naruto's antics took note of the blonde's test sheet. To his amusement the answer boxes had been turned into cartoon screens that depicted someone, who apparently was Naruto, beating up others participants of the exam. On the bottom left box was a surprise though, a doodle of a fox with nine tails was drawn there with a word balloon that said **"Nice work on the test Ibiki-san, for a human, though you could have upped the pressure a bit… If you want tips on making it nastier for the future takers do pay the boy a visit…"** He didn't move a muscle for a long time until he, all the while chuckling, folded the sheet and went to look for the Hokage… interesting guy indeed.

Near training area 44 or the 'Forest of Death' Anko was attempting to scare her charges only to be foiled by Naruto who made a quite comic imitation of her Forest of Death introduction and, what was worse, caused amusement instead of trepidation among the Genins. Deciding to make an example of the blonde she flipped out a kunai and threw it towards Naruto slicing open his cheek and causing lovely red blood to spill out… tasty blood that she was happily licking off Naruto's cheek. After having her Kunai returned by a long tongued ninja from the Hidden Grass she remarked in a suitably cheery voice… "Looks like we have a lot bloodthirsty ones in the test… this should be fun." …succeeding in totally creeping most of the Genins out, she began to give out consent forms.

Naruto was troubled… Anko had given them thirty minutes to decide whether or not to sign their forms. That didn't bother him, he had signed his and was quite sure that both Sakura and Sasuke would sign theirs as well. What bothered him was the weight of responsibility, he was the leader and he was supposed to come up with a plan of sorts that would get them through a difficult mission that could last five days… more than that he was supposed to make a plan that would not only keep them alive but keep them in the exam as well. Sighing he absently scratched Akai, a habit he had developed when he was in deep thought, and stopped his aimless walking when he noticed Hinata who seemed to be in deep thought too. _-I really should thank her for that offer of help during the first exam…-_ With this though he headed towards the girl and called out "Hey Hinata, what are you doing here?"

Hinata stiffened, blushed and turned towards Naruto while stuttering out "…Naruto-kun… umm… hmm…" She then noticed the cut on Naruto's cheek and rummaged through her equipment pouch for a jar of healing salve she'd made herself and in her haste totally ignoring Naruto who was thanking her. Much to Naruto's amazement she then lifted the jar of salve while mumbling out a "Ano, here… salve… wound…"

_-Huh… what's this? Healing salve for my cheek or something? Sheesh there she goes again, first trying to help me at the exam and now this… Heh maybe she really does like me or something.-_ Taking the salve and nearly causing Hinata to faint when their hands accidentally brushed together he said. "Hey Hinata I actually was trying to thank you for what you did in the exam and now you give me a healing salve… I really can't take all of this you know."

_-Arrrgh why am I such a weakling that I can't tell him… I must be stronger and tell him that I know he isn't the Kyuubi, that he's someone I look up to…- _Blushing furiously she struggled to gather courage and let out a "Naruto-kun… please you must…" after which she hung her head. _-Damn it Hyuuga Hinata… you are so weak.-_

Naruto only shook her head at the girl but decided that it would be impolite not to accept the gift. "Well if you insist then… I guess I'll take it." He flashed out a dazzling smile causing the shy Hyuuga's heartbeat go wild. "But in return, you'll have to let me treat you to some deluxe ramen at Ichiraku's as way of saying thank you…" This pretty much froze Hinata's mind, after all she'd just been asked out by none other than 'Naruto-kun', but she did manage a strangled "Hai" and a shy nod.

Seeing as that was settled Naruto bid a brief farewell, pointedly ignoring the hoots and catcalls from Kyuubi, and set out to find his team to discuss the plan he had formed. Soon after he found both Sasuke and Sakura who had their consent forms ready and signed. In a hushed tone he told them to listen up "I think we should head towards the tower using our best speed… If we meet any other teams on the way we take them out and hope they have the right scroll on them, if not then we set up traps near the tower and ambush any teams that come our way until we get the right one. Then we enter the tower, which I think is a safe-zone, to wait out the remaining time." after explaining his plan he asked for opinions. Sakura and Sasuke both agreed as they had been thinking on the same lines themselves, though Sasuke wanted to stay near the tower and ambush more teams… an idea that Naruto, and surprisingly, Sakura both opposed.

Not soon later Team Seven was heading towards the tower. Naruto was running point carrying Akai and keeping a keen eye, ear and nose to the surrounding. They were followed by Sakura while Sasuke, carrying their heaven scroll, was bringing up the rear some twenty five meters behind Naruto. After about twenty or so minutes later Naruto, on Sakura's request, called for a break. Deciding that it was a good time to answer the call of nature he let Akai out of her pouch and went, again on Sakura's 'request', some distance away to do his business… only to be ambushed by a trio of Mist nins. Well they didn't really ambush him, he heard them coming even before the clearing he was on began to fill with mist. _-Heh that won't work too well against me I'm afraid… maybe we'll get lucky and they have an earth scroll...-_

The Mist nins, who'd been certain of an easy victory, soon realized that the mist they had created hindered them more than it did their intended prey. And that their prey wasn't all that alone when all of them were simultaneously and efficiently pummelled into oblivion by Naruto and five aiding clones. The mist faded along with the consciousness of the Mist nins leaving Naruto and the clones free to search their bodies and soon one of the widely grinning clones tossed Naruto a scroll. Too bad it was a heaven scroll though, but still… when combined with a stack of explosive tags he'd found not bad loot for such an easy job. Snickering to himself about the stupidity of his would be stalkers and about the dismay Sasuke would feel from not having been in the fight he dismissed the clones, finished his business and headed back towards the others… and received a fist in face as greeting from Sasuke. Flying backwards against a tree he yelled in confusion "What the hell did you do that for you bastard?"

Sasuke meanwhile was stalking Naruto and demanded to know where the real Naruto was. Seeing the confusion he pointed at 'Naruto' and declared that he was a fake because there was no cut on his cheek. This caused the said 'Naruto' to feel his cheek and exclaim "Wow… You are right teme, it's healed. That stuff Hinata gave me must be amazing." Standing up he glared at Sasuke "And you… I'm the real Naruto and Akai-chan can prove it for me." Much to Sakura's relief and Sasuke's dismay the said fox happily bounced to Naruto and began yapping away causing Naruto to nod at his pet fox "Yes, yes Akai-chan he's a degenerate bastard who's paranoid… for a good reason though, I ran into some trouble and all…"

Naruto didn't have time to explain about the trouble he had been in as a violent gust of wind suddenly swept him of his feet and into the air. When he came to his senses the first thing he noticed was that he wasn't alone, though given the company of an overtly large snake he would have preferred to be. The snake wasted no time in attacking and while Naruto managed to dodge the initial attack he wasn't able to avoid the tail and was subsequently swallowed. His discomfort at the thought of being eaten was heightened by a slight tingling of his skin that began immediately after he was swallowed into the snake's gullet and Kyuubi's disdainful **"Kit I seriously don't feel like turning into snake shit…"**

Thinking for ways to get out from the snake's digestive tract he thought about burning his way out with foxfire but just as he was about to do so he remembered something else… a mental image of him and Sasuke eating too much and then barfing. Several moments of silence followed before a muffled "Take this! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" was heard, followed by the snake suffering a lethal overdose of Uzumaki Naruto. Sniffing himself in disgust Naruto performed a set of hand seals to activate a low level water jutsu that he used to douse himself with water, sniffing himself again he decided that the stench was bearable until he found his team and/or a stream… whichever came first.

Meanwhile Sakura and Akai-chan, who had found Sakura only minutes after the wind had hit, met with Sasuke who was, judging from Akai's behaviour, the real deal. They were at the moment following Akai towards the direction where Naruto had flow off to when they came face to face with the boy in question only to go defensive when Akai began to growl furiously at the impostor. The dispelling henge revealed none other than the long tongued ninja from the Hidden Grass. "Hmm annoying pet you got there… belongs to the blonde loudmouth does it not. Well no matter, this only makes it more fun." The creepy ninja then pulled out an earth scroll, wrapped his freakish tongue around it and of all things swallowed the scroll whole. "Now, let's begin the battle for each other's scrolls… with our lives."

They were struck down mercilessly, kunais stabbed into their skulls as they watched helplessly. Sasuke lost the contents of his stomach at the overwhelming fear. Struggling against it he managed to pull out a kunai and in a final act of desperation plunge it into his own leg to distract himself from the fear. The last ditch attempt worked too, he was able to pull Sakura out of harms way. Pulling out the kunai that was still in his thigh he silenced Sakura. Sakura however managed to free herself and scream out "Sasuke-kun, snake!" just in time for them to evade the attacking reptile. Peppering the offending animal with shuriken Sasuke landed panting, only to see its skin crack to reveal the, now even creepier, Grass ninja who instantly began to 'slither' around a tree branch only to be stopped by a few well placed shurikens.

There, on a higher tree branch, dirty and with a confident grin on his face, stood none other than the Uzumaki Naruto. "Sorry for being late guys but I had a dinner engagement I couldn't talk my way out of…"

The Grass nin sneered at this "Looks like you successfully defeated my giant snake… Naruto-kun, maybe you aren't as worthless as you initially look like."

Naruto wasn't least bit intimidated. "So it was you huh? Well your snake ate something that didn't agree with his stomach… a severe case of indigestion I'm afraid." He was about to goad the snake freak some more but was cut off by Sasuke who decided to play politician and surrender their scroll to the Grass nin. This didn't sit well with Naruto though and he jumped to grab the scroll and punch Sasuke. "What the hell are you doing you cowardly bastard? Just because you are too scared to fight doesn't mean you can do what the hell you want… and there's no guarantee that this freak would let us go even if you gave him the scroll."

Sasuke was about to retort but was cut short from a chilling cackle that came from the Grass nin. "You are correct Naruto-kun… I have no need to let you go seeing as I can easily kill you for the scroll." He began to leak out killing intent from his eyes again in an attempt to paralyze his victims, an attempt that worked on Sakura, Sasuke and apparently Naruto, then again maybe not. Naruto was frozen yes, but not because of fear, he was frozen because the eyes that stared him from the face of this Grass nin were the same eyes that he'd seen in his dream… Eyes he'd seen when the Sandaime had used a henge to transform into a likeness of Orochimaru.

In a burst of primal rage he dashed forward, only to be slammed towards a nearby tree by the tail of a snake that had suddenly appeared in a cloud of smoke. This didn't slow him down though, he wiped his mouth clean of blood, ran his tongue across the now menacing fangs that had formed and grabbed half a dozen shurikens. Throwing them towards the snake summoner, who was smiling somewhat conceitedly, he yelled out "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" turning the six shurikens into a hailstorm of six dozen shurikens. Orochimaru was no longer smiling, he had managed to dodge the shurikens but they had effectively pummelled his summoned snake out of existence and the brat was now stalking him and the eyes… "Orochimaru… I will kill you… You set Kyuubi against Konoha you bastard and because of you I had to grow without parents." … there was no mistaking it. This was the Kyuubi brat but how in the nine hells did he know about his involvement in the Kyuubi attack and how had he recognized him.

Orochimaru was again forced on the defensive when another six dozen shurikens came flying towards him. This time the shurikens were only covering a nastier surprise. Two kunai, wreathed in odd blue flame came in the shadow of the shurikens. He managed to dodge one but the other embedded itself in his left hand causing the most excruciating pain he'd felt in some time. The wound began to bleed out bluish flames as Naruto's foxfire spread outwards from the kunai, this was one of his better tricks though he could only maintain it for a few moments. The foxfire suddenly blinked out of existence leaving dumbfounded Orochimaru staring at his blackened hand and more specifically the kunai itself and a familiar seal that was engraved into it. With an evil grin he turned towards the 'Kyuubified' Naruto and said "Kukukuku… so he sealed it inside his own whelp, this almost too deliciously ironic to be true. Had you not caused me so much pain I would be inclined to invite to join me Naruto-kun… but alas you may have cost me a hand so in return…"

With that he shot out with speed that was beyond anything Naruto had seen and appeared before the startled boy. He then produced his freakish tongue and wrapped it around Naruto, uncovering his stomach at the same time. "Kukuku…so the seal is transferring energy to you Naruto-kun, we'll have none of that now. Gogyo Fuin!" with that he slammed his right hand onto the existing seal causing Naruto to yell out in pain. Then, after grabbing the heaven scroll, with a disdainful flick of his tongue he hurled the boy away and turned to the two remaining members of Team Seven.

Sakura who had shaken herself from the fear saw Naruto fall and threw a kunai which pinned the blonde into a tree. The she began to yell to Sasuke and managed to spark some response from the petrified boy. Sasuke then began a furious battle with the miffed Orochimaru and was doing rather well against him seeing how he was almost unable to use his left hand. He managed to trap Orochimaru with chakra strings and then burn off his face only to be again immobilized by him. Before leaving he bit Sasuke on the neck and said "Sasuke-kun will seek me out… to seek power and to become strong like Naruto-kun, it's not like he can otherwise." With that he sunk into the tree branch and vanished leaving a collapsing Sasuke and panicking Sakura behind.

Naruto was feeling like crap, he hadn't passed out when that bastard Orochimaru did something to his seal but it'd been a close call. He'd managed, with help from Sakura, drag himself into a nearby cave where he promptly collapsed and fell asleep. When he woke up it was nearly dawn and he wasn't feeling any better either, he was feeling… crippled actually as if something that had always been part of him was missing. Pulling up his vest he stared at his stomach and there it was… the seal had now additional markings. Few tests later he realized that not only did the additional seal block him off from Kyuubi's chakra it also pretty much crippled or unbalanced his own chakra system. Frowning Naruto sat up and motioned for Sakura. "Sakura-chan, that bastard Orochimaru did something really weird to me and totally messed up my chakra system… I'm going to try and see if I can fix it but it'll take some time so could you please stand guard a bit longer or would you like to rest right away?"

Sakura, who was relieved beyond words quickly nodded "It's my turn to be useful so try and fix yourself up if you can… but don't take too long though, it's been a long night." She practically beamed at Naruto who flashed a foxy smile in return and then lied back, closing his eyes.

Naruto concentrated and then found himself in the corner of his mind that he'd dubbed as 'Kyuubi's realm'. Earlier he had, following a request and instructions from Kyuubi, modified the surroundings from dank sewer into a sunny forest meadow with a small pond and a lively stream and turned the cage that bound Kyuubi into a cutesy collar. Looking about he saw no sign of Kyuubi, but there was a dome of red and black energy near the stream. Making his way to the dome he could see Kyuubi frantically pacing inside the dome, she stopped her pacing on the instant that she noticed Naruto and obviously tried to yell at the boy. Naruto was relieved too, she wasn't dead at least, but soon grew frustrated when they couldn't communicate. No sound passed through the dome and he really couldn't make out Kyuubi's weird sign language so he only pointed at the new seal and then signed something he hoped Kyuubi would understand as 'I'll try and get help' and turned to leave.

Naruto snapped back into the real world only to see Sasuke, covered with what appeared to be moving flame like tattoos and feeling really off, brutally breaking the arms of a Sound nin. He really didn't quite understand what the hell was happening, this wasn't Sasuke was it? He also took note of Team Ten and Lee who was laying sprawled on the ground. _-What the hell happened, why is thickbrows hurt and what's wrong with Sasuke-teme?-_ He stood up groaning while warily watching the Sound nin leader leave an earth scroll on the ground. "Yo! What the hell is going on here?" He immediately regretted asking when Sakura and Ino both launched into a heated explanation about Sasuke-kun's heroics. Sighing he leaned over to Shikamaru who in a low tone summed up the events for him.

"So basically… those Sound guys beat up Lee and then you guys and then Sasuke… did his thing?" He scratched his head. "Well now that we have both scrolls we'll just head out to the tower, It shouldn't be too far" he checked the position of the sun "We should be there before midday."

Sasuke scoffed at this "Dobe, we only have one scroll…" he then tossed a calculative glance at the Ino-Shika-Cho trio making them sweat slightly.

Before he could even suggest that they take the scroll from Team Ten, Naruto fished out another heaven scroll and said "We have both scrolls Sasuke, though not thanks to you… what the hell were you thinking anyway, trying to give our scroll away to that bastard Orochimaru. Luckily I ran into three Mist nins that had a heaven scroll when I was meeting nature's call so to speak..." walking over Sakura he began to bandage her wounds. "You could have at least tried fighting before chickening out and trying to buy your way out of the situation… well, no matter, he won't be using that hand of his for some time now." He finished his ministrations and again marvelled the efficiency of Hinata's salve, it had visibly relieved the pain and had begun to slightly mend the wounds before he even could cover them with bandages. Standing up he looked about again. "Right, now let's go I want to be in that tower before lunch."

And so they left leaving behind Shikamaru and Chouji who were eyeing the starry eyed Ino rather nervously. They recognized the danger signs, Ino was quickly fixating on yet another idol… Though they had to admit that it had been rather unnerving to see the 'deadlast' casually mention that he'd run into three Mist nins and that he had managed to hurt the infamous Orochimaru. Nudging his friend, Chouji whispered "Do you think we should warn him? I mean he's not a close friend or anything but it would be the humane thing to do." He received no answer as they both suddenly felt the pressure of barely controlled killer intent that was radiating from Ino...

Oblivious to their predicament Naruto and the rest of Team Seven made it towards the tower with good speed despite their injuries. Other than a giant centipede, they didn't meet any nasty surprises on the way and made good time, arriving some time before midday. Wasting no time they puzzled out the mystery of the scrolls and used them to summon none other than Iruka-sensei who profusely congratulated them on passing the second exam. Naruto, suppressing his urge to jump up and down in excitement requested that they be allowed to see the Hokage. "We ran into little trouble on our way here… Orochimaru made an appearance so…" The name Orochimaru had almost magic like effect, Iruka quickly ordered them to follow and led them to the upper levels of the tower and then ordered them to stay there and wait before disappearing through a door.

Sasuke was seething as he listened Naruto's debriefing _-I'll kill him, I'll hurt him… I specifically told him not to mention the bite that I got from Orochimaru and what does the dobe do? Blabs it all out, even describes how my chakra felt 'evil' when I transformed… pfft he's just jealous and is now acting all high and mighty leader-_ he then glared at Sakura who was nodding timidly to confirm what Naruto was saying _-They're holding me back, that's what they're doing… I felt that strength and I need it to kill Itachi, nothing else matters and if that dobe is trying to stand in my way…-_

The Sandaime and Kakashi were both looking troubled as they listened to Naruto's debriefing. They had already heard of Orochimaru's involvement from Anko who'd met the wounded Sannin. What they didn't know was that it'd been Naruto who had caused the wound which, according to Anko, had all but crippled him. They exchanged worried glances when Naruto mentioned the seal that was placed on his stomach and the bite on Sasuke. Finally after the debriefing was over the old man spoke "Kakashi… I trust you can perform a 'Fuja Hoin' to take care of Sasuke's problem while I'll remove the seal placed on Naruto." Dismissing Kakashi along with Sasuke and Sakura he then turned to Naruto. "Now Naruto, lift up your shirt and I'll fix you right up."

Naruto was again feeling great. He had a belly full of food and what was best the quarters they were given came with complete bathing facilities. He'd immediately, earning multitude of curses from Sakura, called the first bathing turn. After a nice long shower he'd enjoyed even longer soak in the tub with Akai, who despite her initial reluctance towards bathing had quickly learned to enjoy nice warm soaks. He had washed his clothing too and was now wearing clean and, thanks to clever use of foxfire, mostly dry clothing. Only thing that was bugging him was the sulking Sasuke who kept glaring at him with murder in his eyes. He shrugged and decided that it was time to go for a walk… let Sakura-chan deal with that grouch.

He was happy to note that the area meant for the participants of the exams was large, not to mention a strict 'no fighting' zone, with open air balconies to that gave a good view of the forest and a multitude of rooms with training equipment ranging from dumbbells to training dummies. Feeling still bit worn out from the whole 'Forest of Death' episode he decided that a nice relaxing napping session on one of the balconies would be a good idea _-I won't be caught making fun of that name again though… Forest of Death indeed.-_ so he headed to one of the balconies.

One hour later he was in still resting comfortably on a chair with Akai-chan curled up in a ball on top of his chest. He was currently idly fingering the jar of salve he'd gotten from Hinata. _-Man this stuff was great, I wonder if Hinata even realizes how much this helped me… Hope she makes it through the forest though, even without Orochimaru it was though going.-_ Seeing her Naruto-niichan looking thoughtful and fingering the jar given to him by that nice girl Akai decided to start a conversation.

Hinata was walking around the tower hoping to find Naruto, she really didn't know if she would have the courage to say anything again but maybe Naruto would at least notice her and confirm that she hadn't dreamed the part where he'd asked her out on a date… _-Well not a date really, we'll just be eating ramen together… Oh My GOD, that sounds so much like a date!-_ She was suddenly snapped out of fantasy where her 'Naruto-kun' dropped on his knees and… when she heard a soft, cutesy voice say "Ne Naru-chan… Are you really going to take that girl out for ramen?" She almost suffered a heart attack there and then. Some floozy was trying to dissuade her Naruto-kun from taking her out. The veins surrounding her eyes bulged as she activated her Byakugan to find Naruto-kun and the bitch that was obviously pestering him, maybe it was that Ino girl who had been dragging him to the clothing store.

What she saw stole her breath away. Naruto was lounging on a chair with Akai sitting on his chest and there was no sign of the tramp. _-But who was speaking then? I'm sure I heard…- _With her Byakugan she saw Akai's mouth move. "Ne Naru-oniichan do you like her? It's obvious that she likes you…are you going to ask her to bear your pups?" She didn't even see Naruto blush, she was so shocked that someone would have noticed her secret crush and a fox no less… she gasped _-Wait a minute, that fox can speak?-_ She considered running away, it had worked before but then noticed that Naruto and Akai were both staring at the balcony entrance with look that clearly said BUSTED. Steeling her courage she decided that it was time to tell Naruto-kun … things.

Naruto was indeed staring at the doorway with a feeling of dread all the while berating himself for not paying more attention to his surroundings. Then he heard someone moving in the hallway and soon the said someone entered the balcony. Both Naruto and Hinata were blushing badly, Naruto because he was sure that Hinata had heard Akai bluntly asking if he was going to ask her to bear his pups and Hinata for well… she really blushed whenever she came to a hundred yards of Naruto. They both spoke at the same time. "Ne Hinata…" "Ano Naruto-kun" Naruto motioned furiously and blurted out "Ladies first…"

Twiddling her fingers and fighting the urge to run Hinata began to stutter. "Ano… Naruto-kun… did Akai-chan… speak?... Gomen… it's so silly… umm couldn't happen…" Her eyes widened when Akai hopped off Naruto's lap and softly walked next to her and jumped up to her arms. She still began to pet the adorable little kit who yapped softly to Naruto who began to nod his head.

Hinata almost dropped the kit when she heard the same soft voice from her arms say "Please don't tell anyone that I can speak…" and Naruto continue "…Akai-chan is somewhat… special, as am I for that matter. Now this is an official secret of Konoha so you can't tell anyone about it but… Well you see the thing is that… umm…" He was interrupted by Hinata's almost inaudible whisper of "Kyuubi is sealed in you" which she breathed out clearly, if very quietly.

Naruto almost fell from his chair. He was to say the least amazed and let it show too… so comical was his face that Hinata actually let loose a small giggle and blushed scarlet right afterwards. Regaining his senses, or at least some of them the Foxboy of Konoha managed to gasp out question as to exactly how had Hinata found out. This brought yet another session of finger twiddling and blushing from the girl. _-How can I tell Naruto-kun that I've been following him around, I'd sound like some weirdo stalker or something.-_

Finally Naruto grew tired with the blushing and finger twiddling and firmly grabbed Hinata's hands causing the shy Hyuuga to swoon. Startled he grabbed her before she hit the ground and quickly deposited her on the vacant chair. When Hinata regained her breathing she tried to twiddle her fingers but found out that her hands were still being held by Naruto who was peering at her face with a worried expression. "Please Hinata, don't faint on me now… and if you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. And I can understand if you don't want to go for that ramen after the exam either."

_-Oh no! Now Naruto-kun thinks I don't llov…like him anymore, not that I blame him for such fears… poor Naruto-kun.-_ She, yet again, noticed that she couldn't poke her fingers together so gathering her courage she stuttered "Gomen Naruto-kun, I didn't mean, I mean I don't care and I'd like to be your… friend." Now she really would have liked to say 'girlfriend' instead of just 'friend' but as always her courage failed her. _-At least I'll be his friend and maybe… just maybe-_ she suddenly saw it in her mind's eye: They were practicing together and she tripped and Naruto-kun was there to catch her… their faces almost touching she could almost hear him saying...

"Hinata… Hinata… hey HINATA!" she snapped out of the daydream to see Naruto waving one hand before her face. She blinked then mournfully realized that Naruto had let go of her hand. "Gomen Naruto-kun… I spaced out." She blushed again, realizing how close Naruto was and how confused he looked. "Ano… I saw you telling the Hokage's grandson about… the, umm the thing and Kurenai-sensei has been teaching me how to lip-read so I found out… And then I ran away because I was shocked… gomen…" she hung her head at yet another admission of her weakness.

Naruto didn't know what do or say, obviously Hinata felt bad for being shocked when she found out. To further add to his confusion he was now face to face with the only person of his own age group that knew his secret and yet she didn't want to scream or hate him but to be his friend. He decided to do as Kyuubi instructed and gently lifted Hinata's chin upwards till she was looking him in the eyes. He then flashed his wide smile at her and said "Hey don't worry about that Hinata, it's not like being shocked over something like that is bad or anything… and you aren't running away screaming either. But I have tons to tell you if you have the time"

Badly blushing Hinata could only nod and so Naruto launched into a long and amazing tale. Before Naruto, who was eagerly explaining everything that had happened since Wave country, or Hinata who was just as eager to hear about the exploits of her one and only love interest, noticed it was getting dark and Hinata's teammates, at Kiba's insistence, had come looking for her. Kiba naturally was furious when he saw, what he considered 'his' girl, and the stupid moron Naruto in such an intimate setting. It actually looked somewhat suspicious… A boy and a girl sitting side by side on a balcony that was facing a forest and there was a sunset too. Luckily Shino, who said he wanted to stay outside for a moment, was there to prevent any bloodshed. Shyly waving goodbye Hinata followed Kiba back inside with a happy bounce… Her Naruto-kun had been eagerly talking to her of all people. She blushed again and shot a last parting glance towards Naruto who was still standing outside with Shino.

Shino simply stood there watching, he didn't move or speak and soon Naruto became uncomfortable under the silent eyes. He was just about to leave when Shino spoke up. "So it was because of Kyuubi that we were all told to stay away from you. Sometimes we do stupid things out of fear… Did you know that I too, grew up without friends because I'm of the Aburame clan? No one wanted to play with the 'icky' bugboy. Still I have to hand it to you… you had it much harder than I did, I at least had… family."

For the second time today Naruto was not believing his ears. _-How many damn people know already? I mean do I carry a sign that says 'Kyuubi is sealed inside, please be quiet' or something?-_ Sighing he sat down and asked. "And just how did you find out? and why are you telling me this?"

The bug user just shrugged "I have a bug placed on both of my teammates, and that bug just relayed it all to me… And I'm telling you because I… don't think that you are a monster either." He turned to leave "Oh and Kiba is in love with Hinata who is in love with you so watch your step. I'll try to keep him on a leash so to speak but you probably should avoid letting him see the two of you like he did today… it looked rather intimate. And if you aren not going to act on this information, please let Hinata down easily... she really cares about you." with that he left a stunned Naruto on the balcony.

When he saw Hinata the next day he made no mention of what Shino had told him, hell he wasn't even sure about how he felt about something like that himself. It wasn't unpleasant to think that someone loved you but still… oh well, his ramen date with Hinata was still on so he had plenty of time to think about it and right now he needed to focus on the exam. Instead of talking about any romantic stuff Naruto managed to coax Hinata into a nice sparring session… and was surprised with the level of skill she exhibited and even more so when she apologized for not being better.

For the next few days he regularly sparred with Hinata and at her insistence, after she finally mustered the courage, told her more about his life. They'd gotten into a point where Hinata actually managed to speak without much of a stutter, albeit in a very tiny voice, and only blushed, stuttered noticeably and/or poked her fingers when her eyes met Naruto's. They were often joined by Lee who had arrived at the tower on the third day. They were also watched by Kiba and Akamaru who, to Kiba's dismay really didn't watch Naruto but instead played around with Akai and generally spent time bonding with the fox when they were both petted profusely by Hinata. Naruto was also pretty sure that he'd seen Sasuke on occasion, skulking in the shadows with his Sharingan active and watching as they sparred, copying their techniques which was the very reason he'd suggested that they only use the basic stuff.

He'd also seen Gaara and his siblings and the changes on their appearances were rather dramatic. Gaara's insomniac look had been passed onto his siblings Temari and Kankuro who now looked like they hadn't slept a wink in days. Gaara on the other hand looked quite well rested though there still were slight remnants of the black rings that surrounded his eyes, the smirking boy told Naruto that he was yet to tell the two about what had occurred over a week ago and that his siblings still feared that Shukaku would suddenly devour his soul and come out unchecked. All in all Gaara was in a good mood and behaved almost amiably towards the Leaf Genins when Naruto introduced them.

Soon the one hundred and twenty hours of the second exam had passed and all the Genins who had made it to the tower were called to the central room. It was time for the third round… and some serious ass kicking.

**TBC… **(in two to four days or something)

Author's rant

Gogyo Fuin stands for Five Elements Seal

Fuja Hoin stands for Evil Sealing Method

Oopsie, I submitted this without the ending paragraph first, well not much harm done there I guess...

First I'd like to thank all you reviewers for the input you gave. As you may have noticed it's dobe now and that Naruto had 1 A- and 1 B-class missions done… A-class was the Wave country thingy and B-class was when he kicked Mizuki around like a rag doll…

I would like to point out that writing stuff that Hinata would say was pretty damn hard, mostly because she really only says… well nothing really in either Manga or Anime. And her thoughts are mostly… Naruto-kun ;) Oh well, I hope it came out ok though… Oh and all her lines are stuttered out if you didn't notice, I just didn't feel like w-r-i-t-i-n-g it li-li-lik-e t-this…

No, Naruto can't draw well… his artistic creations were more in par with Rukia's bunny depictions of Hollows in Bleach… which is a great manga btw. read it… It even has more than a few women in it that can compete with Tsunade on equal ground when it comes to umm… lung size :P

Yes, Ino is now fixated on both Naruto and Sasuke… and no, she didn't kill her team mates in the forest (only slight dislocation of joints and the like)

And yes, Kyuubi now has a collar with the word seal on it and yes she lives in a nice little forest clearing surrounded by flowers and butterflies and all the works…


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi or Gamabunta"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi or Gamabunta-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 5: The Byakugan unleashed… and sadly the super-pervert as well…

They milled about, some slightly nervous while others radiated confidence. Naruto looked around and noticed that surprisingly few teams had made it to the tower in the time given. He himself included there were only twenty one people gathered in the large room. Actually the only people he hadn't seen during his stay in the tower and the only new arrivals were Kabuto and his two teammates. _-Seven teams, we were cut down from twenty seven to just seven… that forest certainly lived up to its name.- _He also took note of the assembled Jounin and the Hokage who began to explain the reasons behind the Chuunin selection exams. Much to his discomfort he also noticed Anko who was watching him with a hungry, predatory gleam in her eyes… just like she had when she was licking his bloody cheek. He struggled to suppress the overwhelming urge to shudder.

He tuned out the Hokage and concentrated instead on Gai and Kakashi who had a much more interesting talk. He mentally snickered at Gai's reaction to Kakashi's innocent "Huh? You said something?" and began to plot out possible ways to use the same tactic on Sasuke. His focus snapped back to the old man who was about to begin explaining the rules for the third exam when a sickly looking man with a bad cough interrupted and requested that he as a referee would be allowed to explain the rules and such. He then launched into an explanation as to how there were too many participants to make it and there was a need for a preliminary. Interrupted by several coughs he said "Umm… those who are not feeling well enough to fight and those who feel like quitting please come forward so we may begin the preliminaries immediately."

There was a slight murmur that ran through the assembled Genin. Naruto was, quite frankly, surprised when only Kabuto raised his hand to indicate that he would withdraw from the competition. Naruto began to loudly question as to why Kabuto would give up so easily and received and answer of "I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I'm all beat up and I haven't been able to hear with my left ear since that scuffle with the Sound nins…" which was something Naruto didn't quite believe. _-Thickbrows took the same hit, twice even, and his ears are working just fine. And for that beat up part, well you look about as fresh as everyone else here. Humpf… maybe you are a seventh time veteran because you lack guts…-_ Without further interruptions Kabuto was removed from the contest… only twenty Genins remained.

Naruto watched carefully as Gekkou Hayate, as the Jounin had introduced himself, began to explain the rules of the preliminary matches. There was something about this Jounin that didn't just add up, he looked as he had one leg in the grave already and yet… **"That one is clever I think. The cough is genuine but not the result of a disease or sickness… and the dying look he has is probably a genjutsu that makes him look sick. You already noticed that he doesn't have the smell of sickness about him."** This caused Naruto to pause. "Smell of sickness?" he asked silently only to hear Kyuubi snort disdainfully. **"You will understand when you visit a hospital… anyway enough of this kit or you will miss the fun rules like 'there are no rules' and such."**

He began to shiver with anticipation, like so many others while some shivered in trepidation, when the scoreboard that would decide the matches began to roll through names. Naruto felt mildly annoyed that it had to be Sasuke-teme who got to fight in the first match. Hayate coughed "The first fight is between Akado Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke… are the contestants ready?" when both indicated that they were, Hayate cleared his throat and said "Well then, we'll begin the first match shortly so would everyone except the two participants move to the upper level…"

As everyone began to walk towards the stairs Kakashi brushed behind Sasuke and whispered. "Sasuke, remember… that your own will is what partially keeps Orochimaru's curse in check. And if you activate that curse… the match will be instantly stopped and you will be placed under ANBU guard." This caused Sasuke to falter. They were again trying to limit his growth but still, he didn't want to be removed from the contest until he had the chance to beat Naruto to a pulp. The dobe deserved to be dropped down a few notches and it was his job as the rookie of the year and his teammate to do it. Smirking confidently he took a loose ready stance and faced his opponent.

Up in the stands everyone had settled down to watch the match. Sakura was rather worried about her 'Sasuke-kun' who had been colder than usual after their encounter with Orochimaru. He'd been almost hostile when she'd tried to talk with him. _-Maybe we shouldn't have told about the bite… it was Sasuke-kun's business after all and he is strong enough to know best himself.-_ She sighed again, she was so confused. She believed in Sasuke but on the other hand the look of concern on Kakashi-sensei's face when Naruto had told about the incident had been noticeable, even with the mask. And then there was the seal that was… _-Why am I doubting Sasuke-kun, he's one of us that has the best chance of coming a Chuunin isn't he. Not even Naruto can compete with him… can he?-_ She shoved the doubt aside and began to cheer as Sasuke delivered the first blow.

Down in the arena Sasuke though he was doing rather well, he'd cornered Yoroi using his superior speed to deflect several shuriken thrown at him and then ran in and grappled with him. Only to have Yoroi start draining his chakra reserves with some weird technique. Kicking him off to make some distance Sasuke began to formulate a plan… good thing he had been able to watch that weirdo Lee practice with Naruto. Flashing through several hand seals he performed 'Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu' (Fire style: Phoenix flower technique) and tossed in a few shurikens while blowing the small balls of flame towards Yoroi. Using the opportunity to attack the now distracted man he quickly ducked under his guard and sent him flying with a swift kick to the chin. He then pushed himself up into air and under Yoroi's shadow and delivered a swift spin kick that Yoroi was able to block. Undaunted he spun again and this time punched Yoroi and then punched him again launching the Genin towards the floor below. Just as they were about to land Sasuke delivered a final spin kick and yelled out the name of 'his' new attack "Shishi Rendan!" (Lion combo)

Blood spurted from Yoroi's mouth as Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off and turned to flash a satisfied smirk towards Naruto. _-Chew on that dobe… the power of the Sharingan is something you definitely can't beat. It was quite amusing how you tried to keep me from gaining power after you noticed that I was watching your little training sessions, you should feel priviledged that I would use you to gain power.-_ He smirked again when he heard Hayate declare him as the winner of the first match and the first one to pass the prelims. Feeling satisfied he headed towards the stairs to watch the rest of the matches. _-I just hope the dobe draws someone weak so he'll win… I so want to put him to his place in front of a large audience.-_

Up in the stands Naruto was seething. So Sasuke-teme had been able to copy Lee's prized technique before Naruto had noticed him skulking about. He really didn't mind using Sharingan or his own Shinkugan to break down and copy techniques from the enemy, but somehow it just felt wrong that Sasuke would sneak in and steal a technique that had taken Lee countless of hours of hard work to achieve. He shook his head in disgust at Sasuke's self satisfied look and the way several unnamed fangirls fawned at him as if he'd done something marvellous. _-I just hope I get to fight him in the third exam… He needs to be dropped down a few pegs… no strike that few dozen pegs.-_

Lee was having similar thoughts. He felt himself somehow slighted, not because Sasuke had copied the initial stage of his technique but because the way he'd done it. Lee knew that Naruto was able to perform 'Konoha Senpuu' perfectly because of his 'bloodline limit' but he didn't care. Naruto had worked hard to achieve that level of skill, maybe not hard as he had himself but still. He sighed in a tired tone _-Uchiha Sasuke your Sharingan is truly fearsome but the way you use it is an affront to those who work hard. To copy your enemy's techniques is one thing, to spy on your comrades is another…-_

Their musings and the squeals of delight from Sasuke fanclub, namely Ino and Sakura, were cut short when the names of the next contestants appeared on the scoreboard 'Zaku Abumi vs. Aburame Shino'. Naruto watched as Shino made his way down the stairs towards the arena and pondered the mystery that was this silent boy. Shino was the second person on his own age group that knew about the Kyuubi, but still… he was friendly enough but about as silent as a grave. Seriously he'd said more on their initial meeting than he'd said during the rest of the time they'd spent together. Naruto sighed as he remembered all that the bug user had said to him on the balcony and again became keenly aware of the slight scent of jasmine that had haunted him the past three days. Shaking his head clear of any thoughts not concerning the preliminaries he tried, with partial success, to focus on the fights.

Down on the arena Shino had already began his match with Zaku and had managed to corner him with a swarm of Kikai bugs and forced Zaku to uncover his second arm. Shino's expression didn't change when Zaku's other arm blew off and the other was torn apart when he tried to use his 'Zankuuha' (Decapitating Air Wave) to blow away the bugs and Shino. When the boy was declared winner and made his way up to the stands Naruto could only gape at what he surmised was the most collected person he'd ever seen. He even shivered slightly at the thought of being surrounded by a large swarm of chakra eating bugs but was reassured by Kyuubi who was certain that the bugs would stand no chance against their foxfire.

The next match was called and it was to be between Gaara's brother Kankuro and Kabuto's teammate Tsurugi Misumi. The match seemed to end before it even got properly started when the stretchy Leaf Genin broke Kankuro's neck… 'Kankuro' in response turned his head completely around and was revealed to be a puppet that proceeded to squeeze the consciousness out of other contestant. After being declared winner he collected his puppet Karasu and joined the rest of his team on the balcony.

Naruto's hopes of getting to fight on the next round were dashed when the scoreboard announced the next match up. He raised an eyebrow when he read the names of Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino on the board. _-Two of the scariest girls I know… I wonder if Sakura-chan is able to win against Ino.-_ The girls in question were descending the stairs together all the while staring lightning bolts at each other. The fight was a long one, they exchanged blow for blow, insult for insult until finally Ino caught Sakura with her 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' (Mind Body Switch technique) only to be foiled by the raging 'inner Sakura' who, because of Naruto's cheers, reared 'her' very scary head and forced Ino, to everyone's amazement, out from Sakura's mind. By now both Sakura and Ino were exhausted and both decided to make a last ditch attempt to beat the other down… they both succeeded in quite a dramatic double KO.

While Naruto and Team Ten were making checkups on Sakura and Ino, Lee was pumping his fists in the air cheering wildly at Tenten who was matched up against Temari. Despite the sheer volume of both cheers and throwing weapons summoned, Tenten was losing badly against the blonde kunoichi from Sunagakure. After a spectacular shower of sharp projectiles got yet again deflected Temari seemed simply to vanish only to reappear and create a miniature tornado that trapped poor Tenten in it. The fight ended when Temari 'caught' the falling girl with her folded fan making her back arch into an unhealthy angle.

After she was declared winner Temari threw Tenten towards to a wall only to have her caught by Lee who'd jumped to grab his fallen teammate. Temari's tough girl exterior crumbled slightly when Naruto jumped down to restrain Lee from attacking her, while staring her with those damnable red eyes, she shivered when she remembered Gaara's reaction to the loud blonde. _-He seems to care about his fellow Genins… maybe I shouldn't piss him off. The consequences might be… unpleasant if I have to face him in the third exam.-_

Shrugging to himself Hayate announced the next match. "Will Nara Shikamaru and Kin Tsuchi please step down so that we can begin the 6th match." Naruto yawned as he watched Shikamaru and the Sound girl make their way down to the arena, he was quite frankly bored by all this waiting and none of Kyuubi's **"Patience is a virtue kit!"** comments really helped. Sasuke was boring too, he kept his eyes on the arena and only scoffed at the level of skill that these 'inferior ones' exhibited. Only people he was looking forward to seeing were Lee, Gaara and Neji, and the way things were going one of them would fight, and win he predicted, against Naruto thusly robbing him the chance to humiliate the dobe himself.

Naruto didn't really care anymore, all his previous boredom had been blow away when Shikamaru used his 'Kagemane no Jutsu' (Shadow Bind Technique) and knocked Kin out by smashing her head to the wall. Well that really didn't affect his boredom but the subsequent announcement of the 7th match. It was his turn to fight. _-Yosh! Finally it's my turn to fight… hmm I'll be facing Kiba, this might get interesting if what Shino said about him is true… and it is judging by how he's been acting when I'm around Hinata.-_ Smiling to himself he decided to aggravate the dogboy further and walked right to Hinata where he stopped for a moment before going down. "Hey Hinata, hold Akai-chan for a while would you, I don't want to take her down to the fight because she's still so young." He then handed the irate Kit to the now blushing Hinata and cast a meaningful glance at Kiba before heading down to the arena.

When he got down to the arena Kiba was already waiting, and positively brimming with confidence. His gloating comment of "Lucky aren't we Akamaru… with that loser as our opponent it's like we've already won." was met with a slightly hesitant bark from Akamaru, who had actually smelled the lingering remnants of Naruto's other chakra from when he'd been demonstrating it to Hinata in private.

Despite of his pet's lack of enthusiasm Kiba continued gloating over his easy victory only to be interrupted by the now fuming Naruto "Shut the hell up! And don't bring that puppy of yours to the fight… he'll just get in the way."

Now it was Kiba's turn to fume. "You idiot Akamaru is going to fight with me, he's a fully trained Ninja animal after all." This comment only made Naruto to smile, then point an accusing finger at Kiba "Yeah well, a loser like you would need all the help he can get so…"

Kiba was now beyond furious, here was the guy who'd been the laughing stock of the academy, standing before him acting all though. And to add to the incentive to beat him up real bad was the fact that he'd begun to suspect that 'his' Hinata-chan might actually like the dork for real. He ordered Akamaru to stand down and said "Hah, acting all though are you? I'll fight you alone and because I feel bad for you I'll even end it with one hit." His confidence grew with every word until he noticed that Naruto didn't seem to be least bit affected and that his eyes turned from their usual blue to rather unnerving crimson. Shrugging it off as some weird intimidation trick or whatever he made a few hand seals and whispered "Gijyuu Ninpou, Shikyaku no Jutsu". (Beast Mimicry, Four legs)

He then fell on all fours and with amazing speed leapt towards Naruto, who had almost no time to react, and slammed his elbow in the blonde's gut hurling him backwards like a sack of potatoes. Smirking he stood up and said "He won't be getting up anytime soon mr. Examiner." while eyeing the spectators and their reactions. To his dismay Hinata was looking somewhat sad and while he could hear Shikamaru's "Just as I thought." something drew his attention back to Hinata's now happy face. Kiba too began to smile, obviously Hinata had noticed that Naruto was nothing loser and not worth anyone's, least of all her, time. This fantasy was proven wrong by determined "Don't underestimate me… dogboy!" coming from his 'downed' victim who was supposed to be out cold.

Naruto was standing there staring at Kiba who had shock written on his face. _-Damn that hurt, he hits like a damn jackhammer. And he's fast too.-_ Grinning confidently to Kiba who was now telling him to drop the tough guy act, he wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and said "I just let you hit me to test your strength… It was pretty pathetic so really it's you who should drop the tough guy act. You know use your puppy too or whatever." Naruto watched as his words hit home making Kiba quiver with rage and then fell into a defensive stance, Kiba held the speed advantage unless he were to drop the genjutsu from his bracers and that was something he wanted to keep a secret as long as possible.

Kiba meanwhile had formulated a plan, grabbing few smokebombs he yelled at Akamaru and charged. Naruto watched the approaching pair carefully _-Smokebombs? Heh this should be interesting-_ Soon enough Kiba got into range and threw the small orbs causing a large cloud of smoke to obscure the area. Inside the smoke Naruto was easily dodging the first few attacks that came his way _-This is too easy… I would be beaten up badly if it wasn't for my senses though but still… where's that damn mutt?-_ Soon enough he had a fix on Akamaru's location and a pretty good idea on Kiba's plan, deciding to play along he dashed out of the smoke towards the waiting dog.

Several barks, yells of pain and general sounds of combat later the smoke cleared to reveal an unconscious Naruto and Akamaru who was happily wagging his tail. Kiba let out a yell of victory and extended his arms to welcome the ecstatic dog, only to have the said animal sink its rather sharp teeth into his arm. His confusion was escalated when 'Akamaru' said in a cheery voice "You fell for it!" and then growled loudly as he 'pooffed' into smiling Naruto who immediately began to spit out in disgust. "Blech gross Kiba don't you ever wash that coat of yours… sheesh tastes like a rotten dog…"

Up in the stands everyone was watching in stunned silence. Asuma and Kurenai, the Jounin instructors of Teams Eight and Ten were both thinking _-What the hell did you do to that boy, the dead last of the academy, Kakashi?-_ The Jounins weren't the only ones impressed though and their thoughts were best summarized by Hinata's very quiet "Naruto-kun… you're great!" even though it was all buried under Sakura's very loud "YOU'RE GREAT NARUTO!". Sasuke just scoffed at the cheap 'tricks' Naruto was pulling while Neji found it mildly amusing that Naruto had the gall to complain about taste after biting someone.

Back at the arena Kiba tossed a soldier pill to Akamaru who was being held by Naruto's clone. The small, white and harmless looking dog suddenly turned into a red and definitely lot less harmless looking beast that, after effectively destroying the clone holding him, jumped on Kiba's back. Several handseals later Kiba yelled "Gijyuu Ninpou Jyuujin Bunshin!" (Beast Mimicry, Beast Human Clone) causing them both to be covered in smoke. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he pulled into even tighter defensive stance, when the smoke cleared revealing two identical 'beast' Kiba's that immediately charged forward.

He was in a tight spot and he knew it, dodging and parrying blows that rained from Kiba and the 'Kiba like' Akamaru Naruto was forced into a position where he was vulnerable. Smelling victory Kiba and Akamaru charged forward while Kiba yelled "Gatsuuga" (Double piercing fang) and both of them turned into veritable drills that both hit Naruto dead on. The blonde in question fell to the ground with an audible thud. "You always go on and on about becoming the Hokage… well I'll tell you something, a loser like you can never be Hokage but hey don't feel bad… I'll become the Hokage for you." Turning towards the referee he continued "He's finished, no way in hell…"

He never got the chance to finish what he was about to say when Naruto who was sprawled on the floor stood up shakily and flashed a confident grin. "If you are going to compete with me for the title of the Hokage… You should know that… you'll be the underdog." Pulling himself to yet another defensive stance he dodged the 'Gatsuuga' again. _-He's getting careless, there was no preparation this time and now that I've seen that one I won't fall for it again. I'm still at a disadvantage though… I need to get rid of the damn mutt but how?-_ He smiled deviously while dodging yet another 'Gatsuuga' attack and formed a few handseals to perform a 'Henge' that made him an exact Kiba look alike.

Kiba sniffed the air tentatively, there were two exact copies of himself but he still had the advantage. There, that one smelled strongly of fox… he swung his fist with all his might and connected squarely at the fake causing him to fly backwards and land in a roll. There was a puff of smoke that revealed… Akamaru. Eyes widening he turned around in a rush and smashed his fist into what had to be Naruto only to see the 'Jyuujin Bunshin' dissolve into an unconscious Akamaru. Turning around totally baffled he was rewarded with a sight of cloud of smoke that cleared to reveal a grinning blonde who said in a taunting voice. "Think before using a jutsu or it will be used against you. And when in doubt… trust your nose… ne Kiba-kun? or should I call you Baka-kun?"

Up in the balcony Kakashi sweat dropped _-He certainly is something else, using my lines like that… well at least he pissed him off-_

Kiba was livid, the class failure that was supposed to be a pushover had foiled him in every turn. Forcing himself to calm down by biting his own hand he began to plan a strategy. _-I'm faster and stronger than he is so I'll just keep on wearing him down… I'll get a hit in eventually and then it's all over.-_ He smirked, regained his calm, at Naruto who was now holding four shuriken in his hands. "Heh you think something so basic is going to work against me?"

Naruto just shook his head and smiled. "I'm going try out my new special technique on you… prepare to get payback for those 'Gatsuugas' they hurt like hell…" At that he threw three of the shurikens and a moment later the last shuriken. Kiba, like everyone else, was baffled at this odd behaviour until he heard poofs from behind him. Turning around in a flash he now stood face to face with three Kage Bunshins. It was too late he realized, when there was one final poof right behind him and then fist connected with his head. With a loud yell of "U" the first clone batted him towards the remaining three while the real Naruto used the first clone as a springboard. Then the remaining three clones kicked him into air yelling "ZU-MA-KI" where he met the real Naruto's heel that connected to his skull sending him to the hard floor below. "NARUTO RENDAN" (U-ZU-MA-KI NARUTO combo… duh…)

Naruto stood ready in case Kiba would still somehow recover from the beating he'd received. When he didn't and Hayate declared Naruto winner he turned his gaze towards Sasuke. With a flippant salute that clearly said "You aren't the only one who can copy stuff and pass it off as their own.", a message that Sasuke seemed to understand judging by his darkening countenance, Naruto headed towards the stairs. He walked over to the awestruck Hinata and collected his pet fox while still admiring the power of the healing salve he'd gotten from her. Flashing her a dazzling smile he said "Ne Hinata… this stuff is really really great, I mean it's closing my wounds like nothing I've ever seen." this naturally brought out a wave of blushing that caused the nearby Neji scoff at his weak cousin.

For some reason the announcement of the next match brought a cold knot into Naruto's stomach. He watched with certain amount of trepidation as Hinata was matched against her cousin Neji. A knot that grew tighter and colder when Lee snuck up to him and whispered "Judging from what I saw when you sparred with her, Hinata is very good but… Neji is the greatest genius born in their clan in the last hundred years. And he holds a grudge against the main house because he is from the branch house. This could get ugly."

Down at the arena Neji was berating Hinata, telling her how she was worthless, weak and unskilled. That didn't quite bury the knot in Naruto's stomach but it certainly made him feel angry. He'd used his Shinkugan to analyze Hinata's Jyuken form and had found out that her form was nearly flawless without any major gaps in the defence or in the offence. Hinata only had problems with her confidence and that bastard Neji was attacking just that. He narrowed his eyes and bellowed "STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU KNOW SOMETHING YOU BASTARD! HINATA DON'T LISTEN TO THAT MORON... JUST BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM AND SHOVE THAT SUPERIOR SMIRK OF HIS SO FAR UP HIS ASS THAT HE CAN OBSERVE IT WHENEVER HE OPENS HIS MOUTH IN FRONT OF A MIRROR!"

Deep in his mind Kyuubi giggled **_-So much for the subtleties… seems to have worked though. I swear being sealed in the kitling doesn't get boring…-_** And indeed it had worked. Hinata collected herself after the loud encouragement from her personal idol, activated her Byakugan and dropped into a Jyuken stance. "Come Neji-niisan let us fight." Neji was somewhere between pleased and annoyed because his weak cousin hadn't given up. It would have been delightful to humiliate a member of the main house by scaring her into forfeiting… but it would be almost as delightful to beat one into hospital, preferably into the morgue. He too took a Jyuken stance and the battle was joined.

Up on the balcony Naruto was watching with growing concern. While it did seem that Hinata was holding the upper hand after her determination had been lit by little encouragement, his eyes told him that Neji was actually toying with Hinata. He winced when Neji landed two hits on Hinata's chest causing her to spit out blood. Hinata then tried to strike Neji only to be stuck in the arm for her efforts. Neji then slammed his hand into her chest again with enough force to send her sprawling on the ground.

He looked down at his weak cousin who was coughing blood on the ground and said in a scornful tone "Hinata-sama… this is the difference in our strength… the difference between elite and loser. Forfeit…" Neji smiled to himself, this was indeed quite pleasurable. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of Hinata who was slowly standing up and wetted his lips in anticipation to hear a submission from a member of the main house.

His eyes narrowed even more and his face turned into a scowl when Hinata finally stood up and said "No… I don't go back on my word… it's my nindo." Hinata, her eyes once more pulsing with the Byakugan, charged forward and challenged Neji in combat again… only to be hit repeatedly by Neji.

Naruto, whose anger was beginning to spike, began to inch closer to Hinata's sensei… there was a pattern behind those hits. "He's trying to kill or at least severely wound Hinata… You have put an end to this. Those strikes are all aimed to non vital organs but the combined effect of the damages could be… fatal." As he said the words he could feel Kyuubi's anger growing as well. The seal in his stomach began to slowly leak out bits of Kyuubi's chakra alerting most of the Jounins and incidentally the smirking Neji.

On the arena Neji was happily smirking at Hinata who was struggling to get back on her feet. He'd hit multiple organs with the Jyuken, none of the hits were lethal but… accidents did happen. His smirk waned when he felt a stab of intense anger and killer intent that was rolling from the balcony. Without turning his eyes he observed the loudmouth blonde… or what should have been him. Instead of the blonde there was something… else, something that actually was slightly scaring. He was Hyuuga Neji, he didn't get scared… ever, so instead he got angry and directed the anger to where he felt it was due… to his cousin. Deciding to put an end to this charade he charged forward ignoring the yell of "Neji-kun the match is over!" from Hayate only to be stopped by no less than four Jounin.

Behind the Jounins Hinata suddenly buckled over coughing out more blood. With a loud yell of "Hinata" Naruto jumped over the railing and hurried to the fallen girl. They locked eyes for a second and her eyes seemed to say "See Naruto-kun… I can be strong!" before Hinata's eyes rolled over and she slipped into unconsciousness. Naruto quickly flashed through a few handseals to activate the only medical jutsu he knew. It wasn't much, designed to be used as a first aid on minor wounds and such but still he'd read on the instructions that it's power was dependant on the amount of chakra the user would expend. Yelling for someone to get the damn medic team there faster he pumped out vast amounts of chakra into his hand that he held over the spots that Neji had hit. He didn't know exactly how much good he'd done or how long he'd been doing it when the medic team finally arrived.

Letting the professionals take over he suppressed yet another surge of anger that was coming from… he really didn't even know whether it was from Kyuubi or himself and turned to face the pleased looking Neji. "Hey loser, cut the pointless cheering on other losers and understand that you are never going to be more than just that… a loser." That did it the bastard was going down… hard. Naruto began to rush towards Neji only to be intercepted by Lee. "Naruto-kun… I understand why you would want to beat him up." He made a face towards the still smirking Hyuuga "And I completely agree with you, but still you should wait till you get a chance to fight him in a match… not in a brawl like this." Sensing that Naruto had calmed somewhat he let go of the blonde. "And I too want to fight Neji Naruto-kun, but should you be his opponent in the finals… there will be no hard feelings. It would somehow be more fitting should it be you."

Naruto stared at Neji, his eyes never leaving him he reached down to a pool of blood that was on the ground. Bringing his bloody hand up to eye level he channelled chakra into his fingernails making them grow into claws and then made a fist causing Hinata's blood and the blood that was flowing from his punctured palm to drip on the ground. "You… are… going… down!" With a final glare he turned and stomped towards the stairs leaving the openly amused Neji behind.

Up where the Sand siblings were Kankuro grinned at Naruto's performance. "He's so clueless that it's funny… He hasn't noticed the difference in their ability…"

This caused Gaara to turn his eyes on Kankuro. "He was lucky the greenclad ninja was there to stop him"

He said making Kankuro nod "That Neji guy was holding back… the blonde sure got lucky" Gaara only stared at the scoreboard that announced that he was to fight against Rock Lee next. Just before he vanished in a whirl of sand he said "He wasn't the lucky one." leaving behind a slightly nervous Kankuro_ -He couldn't mean that it was the white-eyed guy who…-_

Down in the arena Lee was furiously attacking Gaara only to have his attacks meet an impregnable defence formed by moving sand. Forced into defence by what seemed to be hands made of sand he did several back flips and finally vaulted himself on top of the monument of seals. There was a moment of silence, while the two combatants stared at each other, that was broken by Gai's enthusiastic "Lee… take them off!"

Lee looked confused. "But Gai-sensei… that's only allowed when I'm protecting precious people…" His confusion turned to a look of glee when Gai flashed his nice guy pose and yelled "It's alright Lee! I'll allow it!" With an expectant look, almost like a small child on Christmas Eve, he rolled down his orange leg covers and unstrapped two set of weights that covered his shins and let them fall. "Yosh! Now I can move like the spirit of youth!"

Naruto only rolled his eyes, he knew the insane weights that Lee walked around with and was probably the only one who was not surprised at the massive cloud of dust and mortar that blew upwards when the weights hit the ground. Nor was he surprised when Lee seemed to blur out of existence only to reappear behind Gaara to give first blow in a flurry of blows that eventually smashed through his ultimate defence.

Temari and Kankuro were in shock, no one had ever broken through Gaara's sand before and forced him to use the 'Suna no Yoroi' (Armour of Sand) but they weren't the only ones, Gaara himself was rather shocked at the speed and strength that Lee was using. Lee was shocked as well, with that moving sand and the sand armour that was covering Gaara's skin there was no way he'd be able to deal enough damage to win before he would run out of steam. He shot a questioning glance at Gai who nodded imperceptibly making Lee smile as he began to untie the bandages covering his arms.

At this point Naruto was getting very interested. He was about to witness the 'Omote Renge' (Initial Lotus) that he'd heard Lee and Gai talk about. And there it was, with a blinding speed Lee made several circles around Gaara and then duck under his guard to kick him from below, only to follow him into the air where he wrapped his bandages around Gaara. The effect was quite spectacular as Gaara was drilled half a meter into the ground and began to crumble revealing that Lee had wasted his move on a 'Suna Bunshin'.

Now Lee was on the defensive, his body hurt all over from using the 'Renge' and all he could do, and even that barely, was dodge the jets of sand that would have knocked him unconscious or worse. Gaara on the other hand tasted victory and was preparing for a final strike that would make him win when Lee suddenly rolled away without the slightest hint of pain. Up in the balcony Kakashi and Gai were in a heated conversation about the 'eight celestial gates' something that Naruto decided he would ask about later.

Lee grew stronger by the moment, small pebbles starting to rise from the ground around him and then he was off. Faster than the eye could follow he kicked Gaara into air again then jumped after him. To a casual observer it seemed as if Gaara was bounced around by invisible hands, hit after hit rained on him from the furious Lee who was preparing for a final strike just as the muscles in his hand ceased to function, ignoring the pain he forced the fifth gate to open and delivered a jarring blow to Gaara propelling him downwards. Lee then pulled on his bandages to pull Gaara upwards like a yo-yo while preparing to perform the 'Ura Renge' (Extreme Lotus). His fist made contact with Gaara and smashed him to the ground and sending Lee hurling to the other end of the arena. Much to the dismay of Gai and to amazement of most everyone else Gaara wasn't finished yet.

His sand began to creep towards Lee and then suddenly wrapped itself around his spandex covered arm and leg. It stopped there though as Gaara paused. Images of his painful past flashed through his mind and the sand moved forward again then stopped. Gaara dismissed the memories of Shukaku's insane whispers that demanded he feed his opponents to the sand. There were no whispers anymore, no need to kill to silence the unquenchable thirst that was in Shukaku. True he had killed the Rain ninjas, without mercy or hesitation but they… they had demanded that they have his scroll, and his sister in exchange for escape.

His eyes focused on Lee as more images flashed through his mind, images of Naruto smiling to Lee who was pumping his fist in the air and yelling "Flames of youth will unite our villages in peace!" he had made his decision and the sand obeyed it wrapping itself around the boy. Gaara stood up and said "Referee, it's over he is unable to fight anymore…" then he, almost carefully, used his sand to place the unconscious taijutsu master on the ground. As he let the sand flow back into the gourd his eyes widened… despite his injuries Lee was there standing in his signature ready position. _-Is he even human? I clearly heard his muscles snap…-_ Any further deliberations into the issue were cut off by Gai's arrival who declared that it was over and that Lee was already unconscious. Gaara turned away after he was declared winner and returned to the balcony offering only a commanding "Shut up!" to all the questions that were directed at him by his siblings and Baki.

The tenth and final fight soon began between Akimichi Choji and Dosu Kinuta. The preliminaries came to an end with a fight that was somewhat anticlimactic after the showdown between Gaara and Lee as Dosu easily claimed victory by directing his sound waves through Choji's body and into his eardrums making him lose consciousness.

The Hokage began by congratulating all those who had passed and proceeded to explain that they now had a month to recover, train and to device strategies against their opponents. As for the opponents… after a series of drawing lots the fight schedule was established. To his delight Naruto drew one while Neji drew two meaning that they had the first fight. Other pairs were Sasuke and Gaara, Kankurou and Shino, Shikamaru and Dosu with Temari fighting against the winner of that match. With that and an explanation as to how they could all become Chuunin or that maybe none of them would become Chuunin the Hokage dismissed them for a months time.

Before he could even ask, Kakashi approached Naruto as they stood outside training area 44. "So Naruto… congratulations on passing the prelims. I'm going to leave several scrolls at your for you to study during this month." That caused Naruto's smile to falter, he'd really been hoping that Kakashi, whom he considered to be about the best ninja around would have taken charge of his training. Seeing this Kakashi quickly continued "The Hokage has asked that I train Sasuke as I am the only Sharingan user in the village it would make sense… the Hokage also said he has arranged another teacher for you. Your father's old sensei Jiraiya who was also Orochimaru's old teammate… you are to meet him at the Konoha hotspring resort tomorrow after lunch… he's an old man with white spiky white hair, you can't miss him."

He gave Naruto a slight push. "I suggest that you rest for today and I think it would be… nice to visit your sparring partner in the hospital just to see how he's doing. Him and maybe… someone else too?" Somehow the slight suggestiveness of his tone and the way his visible eye cringed caused Naruto to feel quite hot and uncomfortable. Kakashi's eye shone with suppressed mirth. "Anyway I'll leave you some scrolls that I think might come handy when you go against the Hyuuga boy… remember he's no pushover so train hard and all that… well see you in a month." Naruto watched with mixed emotions as his uncle vanished in a cloud of smoke after a final wave of hand.

As he made his way home for the first time in five days he pondered about what Kakashi had just said. _-I guess he's right about that whole Sharingan thing… though it still kinda sucks to be referred to someone else. On the other hand, he was father's sensei and one of the Sannin just like that snake-bastard so that would mean that he's really strong too.-_ Grumbling he absently stroked Akai-chan while immersed in his own thoughts. When they got back to Naruto's apartment they cleaned up and headed out for some celebratory ramen at Ichiraku's. Twenty some bowls of ramen later Naruto decided that he would do as Kakashi had instructed and visit the hospital… he was anxious to know exactly how badly both Lee and Hinata had gotten hurt.

First thing he saw when he arrived at the hospital was Gai-sensei who immediately ran up to his part-time pupil and began to yell "Ah Naruto-kun it pleases me greatly to see that you take the time visit your fallen comrade despite burning passion for training that you must feel is needed to fulfil your youthful potential…" After few moments and several rather harsh glares from the nurses he calmed down enough to explain in plain words that Lee was expected to make a full recovery. He had pulled or torn muscles all over his body and there were small fractures on many of his bones but still… Gai sighed "The flames of youth are strong in this one and thusly he will make most efficient recovery… they expect him to be up to norm in one month but I say he'll be back to it in two weeks and if he's not I'll run around Konoha five hundred times and if I can't do that I'll…" Naruto tuned the rest out, he knew from experience that only a blatant interruption could stop Gai or Lee for that matter when they went on their rants.

He bid the starry eyed Gai goodbye and went to front desk to find out where Hinata was taken. After receiving a room number he went to find the said room. When he entered the room there was no one else there beside Hinata so he pulled out a chair and sat next to her bed. After a moment of awkward silence he cleared his throat and pulled out a kitsune plushie, that he'd brought on Akai's insistence, and placed it under Hinata's arm. He then looked from her to Akai to the plushie and then to Hinata again and shook his head. _-Damn it, why is this so hard? I mean I speak to girls every day and she's not even awake for Kami's sake... could it be that I… no I will not think about that stuff until I'm done with the damn exam.- _

He cleared his throat again and then said "Well Hinata… you umm. you did really well out there and umm Akai wanted you to have the plushie so that you could pet it in her stead and stuff… so I'll be going now I guess and we're still on for the ramen right? I mean well I'll be back when you are feeling better and stuff… so bye!" Acting as on instinct he reached out with his hand and slightly touched Hinata on the cheek, and then realizing what he'd just done quickly pulled the hand away and blushed deep crimson. _-Phew… good thing nobody saw that one. What ever possessed me to do it in the first place?-_

Throwing a dark curse at Kyuubi who was now rolling around in barely concealed fits of laughter he turned stood up and walked to the door, which suddenly opened smacking him squarely on the face. After he regained his senses he came face to face with Hinata's Jounin instructor Yuuhi Kurenai and her teammate Shino. Seeing an opportunity to gain more info on Hinata's state he asked "How is she? I mean she's sleeping and all and there are none of those weird machines they keep on really sick people on tv…"

What happened next was something he really didn't see coming. Kurenai simply grabbed him in a hug and whispered a heartfelt "Thank you…" into his ear. When Kurenai finally let go of the confused foxboy she began to explain. "The medics said that she'd suffered major trauma on most of her internal organs… the combinated effect would have been fatal or the very least very severe had she not received extensive first aid on the spot…" She locked her red eyes with Naruto's "You may very well have saved her life with that jutsu of yours and for that you have my gratitude."

Naruto cringed when he heard the words, then his face set in a determined mask. "So that bastard Neji was really trying to kill her… all the more reason to whip his lily ass all over the stadium." He motioned towards the sleeping Hinata. "So when is she expected to wake up and will she be alright and exactly when will she be alright?"

There was some deeper undercurrent in his voice that apparently was not missed by the red eyed Jounin. "She's expected to wake up later this evening or sometime during the night and she should be out of the hospital in a week… or sooner. If you want to visit her then why don't you drop by tomorrow around lunchtime, I'm sure she could use the company and maybe something different from the hospital food… but that just a suggestion." She smiled prettily at Naruto who was now blushing slightly. "Now off you go, you have your own training to think about I'm certain… and congratulations on passing the exam by the way."

She ushered Naruto out from the room and to the hallway where he was soon joined by Shino who simply offered his hand and said "I thank you also… she's a good person." with that the bug user turned to leave but was stopped by Naruto who was already formulating a plan and needed some information. Shino paused to consider Naruto's request and decided that it was worth the time it would take… before parting ways with him Shino said one last thing "I'm sure Kiba will feel thankful as well, as for the other matter… I'll speak with him."

Gaara was staring at the full moon, Shukaku was always most active during this time but now… this was the first time in his life that he was able to look at the moon and not feel the desire to kill things. He was actually enjoying his very first 'moon viewing' when the Sound nin Dosu came to interrupt. After the Sound nin prattled something about trying to kill him in his sleep and the need to eliminate him so that he would have a better chance of fighting the Uchiha he was growing bored. "You know… you are sort of lucky. He's sealed now, he used to get so bloodthirsty during full moon but now… you only have to deal with me." There was a sudden wave of sand that engulfed the Sound nin and a muffled cry followed by a spurt of blood when Gaara's sand crushed the poor bastard. _-Moron, Shukaku might not make me kill things but I still don't like assassins… much less sound assassins.-_

He was unaware of the two men watching him. "So that's the extent of his capabilities? Or should I say that that's the extent of his capabilities unless 'it' comes out correct? And don't worry about Kinuta, he served his purpose and wasn't all that useful anymore." Hayate perked his ears, there was the Sand Jounin Baki talking to Kabuto, a Leaf Genin who was to be arrested on suspicion of treason. He listened intently as the two men talked about a plan to attack Kohona only to gasp slightly when he heard Baki declare "I'll take care of the eavesdropper… it's only one rat there so no problem."

The two Jounin faced off and after a conceiting "My my mr. examiner… what are you doing here all alone?" from Baki, Hayate launched his attack after performing a few seals and yelling out "Mikazuki no Mai" (Dance of the Crescent Moon). An attack that did connect but didn't quite cause the affect it was supposed to as Baki only smiled. "Very surprising to master such a move on so young age… but your blade can be stopped while a blade of wind can't… Kaze no Yaiba" Hayate saw it coming. _-So… it ends here then-_ There was moment of blackness then he realized something. _-Sand, there's a wall of sand in front of me… what the hell?-_ He quickly and cautiously navigated around the wall of sand only to see Baki's head, with his mouth covered, sticking out from a cocoon of sand. He whirled about when there was a voice that said "I believe Baki would tell you most interesting things if you were to question him…" Looking towards a nearby roof he saw the Sand boy, Gaara smirking and holding his hand towards Baki. "I wish to leave the service of Kazekage-sama... and join the ranks of your Leaf Genin if possible."

It was nearly lunch time the following day and Naruto was balancing several takeout bowls of miso and beef ramen along with a bag that held several canned beverages and an additional bag of special treat he'd gotten. He was almost at Hinata's room when he heard a male voice stating "You are weak daughter! To lose in a fight to a member of the branch house is inexcusable." The voice and the message that the voice conveyed reminded him so much of Neji that he almost dropped the foodstuffs he was lugging… almost. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself, an act that was almost impossible as the male in Hinata's room continued to berate her, calling her worthless and the like. Deciding to take Kyuubi's advice, she was talking his ear off really, he feigned ignorance of any other visitors and kicked the door open, secretly hoping to hit the offending male with it, and burst into the room.

He heard Kyuubi making a small snort of amusement when he observed a pale eyed man, obviously Hinata's father whirl around in amazement at such a blatant intrusion. Pointedly ignoring the man he waved cheerfully at Hinata. "Oi Hinata… good to see you awake and all you had us all worried there for a moment. Anyway I got you some ramen and stuff to make you feel better, I mean hospital food has a certain… reputation." Placing his baggage on a nearby table he noticed that Hiashi, as he knew Hinata's father was called, was growing quite impatient from being ignored. Paying the man no heed he helped Akai-chan from her pouch onto Hinata's bed where she was promptly placed in a small embrace joining, he noted, the kitsune plushie he'd brought the day before.

Turning around he acted as he hadn't even noticed Hiashi before this. "Ah gomen Hiashi-sama I didn't realize you were there…" He immediately disliked the man, not only did he sound like Neji but he even had the same superior 'I'm better than you… so you are nothing to me' look on his face. "I brought some ramen… but I'm afraid there's not enough for all of us so if you'll excuse us…" That brought a muffled squeak from Hinata and caused Hiashi's eyes to narrow visibly. Now Naruto really wasn't sure why Kyuubi thought it was a good idea to outrageously piss off the guy but he was enjoying himself so he really didn't care.

Hiashi used the moment of silence to deal with this impudent commoner. "It's you who should excuse us… I was just talking with my daughter…" He got no further when Naruto interrupted.

"You mean telling her how she is weak for not winning against someone who is supposedly the greatest genius in the Hyuuga clan… how's that her fault? She fought to the best of her ability and you can't say jack about that because you weren't there to see it were you? And if she's not the greatest genius in the clan then that's not her fault either." Naruto almost choked on what Kyuubi was telling him to say. "Or am I mistaken to think that you are the one who conceived her? So wouldn't any shortcomings in that direction be your fault…" Hiashi was now visibly fuming. "Only thing she doesn't have in abundance is self esteem but that's not surprising if your actions today are any indication of the norm…"

"How dare you… my daughter is weak and there's no way around it and it can't be changed… I only hope that her sister Hanabi won't turn out to be as useless as she is." Hiashi was livid actually, not only had this commoner dared voice the truth he himself didn't want to face, Neji was a genius among the Hyuuga, he'd also dared to question his abilities as a father… and a man. He was about to defend his position when the boy continued.

"Now Hiashi-sama, we have established that Neji has the strongest of Hyuuga blood in the past hundred years so wouldn't it make the whole Hyuuga clan look bad when I kick his ass around the stadium like it was an empty can." Naruto stopped to draw breath and gauge Hiashi's reaction, something which was hard because he'd along the years cultivated a face of total composure.

Only thing that gave away the Hyuuga leader's anger was a pulsing vein on his forehead. "Blah, this is pointless… There is now way rabble like you could ever defeat even the weakest of the Hyuuga, let alone my nephew Neji…"

This caused Kyuubi to smile **_-Hook, line and sinker…-_** now all that remained was for Naruto to say the words… And the blonde said them "Want to bet? If and when I kick the crap out of Neji you will take back all that crap about Hinata being weak and start treating her like you should treat your own daughter… and if for some reason I lose… well dunno you can ask anything really." He flashed out a confident grin to the now terrified Hinata.

_-Cocky little bastard… anything hmm. Intriguing proposition, maybe if we could incorporate his apparent 'bloodline' into the Hyuuga… yes that might work.-_ Hiashi drew a breath and cleared his throat. "Very well Uzumaki I accept and if you lose you will forget your ambitions of becoming a Hokage and be branded as a member of the Hyuuga branch family so that our clan may benefit from your… unique physique." He grinned wickedly "Actually why won't we just brand that weak daughter of mine you are so eager to protect and marry you of to each other…" deciding that the matter was closed at that he turned to leave only to hear Naruto's cheerful voice yelling after him "Hey hey, you trying to bribe me so that I'd lose on purpose or what?"

After it was apparent to Naruto that Hiashi was gone and wouldn't come back he turned to furiously blushing Hinata. Suddenly realizing how awkward the situation was Naruto blushed as well. "Umm… well you see Hinata… sorry I really didn't have the right to do that but… I just couldn't stand by and let that moron call you weak and all." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and then remembered something important. "Aha Hinata-chan I forgot that I brought ramen… here have some." Naruto busied himself by pulling out a table that he set near Hinata's bed and placed several cups of ramen on it.

Hinata didn't notice though, she was totally out of it. First she was being berated by her father only to be fiercely defended by Naruto who then made a bet with her father that would most surely land them as a married couple and if that wasn't enough Naruto had brought her food and had called her Hinata-chan of all things. Then something else clicked… the boy whom she secretly loved had just placed his only dream on the line for her sake. Looking frantically about she noticed that the said boy had just deposited a bowl of steaming ramen in front of her and had a carefree, almost eager expression on his face. She began to whisper out "Naruto-kun… you must… withdraw from this bet… you can't risk your dreams."

Naruto only raised his eyebrow in amazement. He wasn't sure how Hinata would react to bet, but he certainly wasn't expecting her to only worry about his chances of becoming a Hokage. He needed time to think and luckily the excuse was only an arms length away. "Don't worry about that now Hinata-chan just eat that ramen before it gets cold and we can talk after that right?" trying to set an example he dug in. After Naruto cleaned out four bowls of ramen, three of his own and one he'd brought for Hinata, who demurely declined the second bowl saying that one bowl was enough for her, he grabbed the bag he'd brought and handed it over to Hinata who, blushing only slightly, peeked into the bag only to squeal out "Cinnamon rolls… my favourites, how did you know?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to blush but before he could even begin to explain Akai cut in. "He bullied that information out from your teammate Hinata-chan. That was yesterday when we came to check up on you and brought you that plushie to keep you company." This blatant lie caused Naruto to gasp, he hadn't bullied anything from Shino just merely asked if there was any food Hinata liked in particular. He rubbed his temples while thinking _-Damn I swear Akai and Kyuubi are in league and playing matchmakers.-_ a thought that caused Kyuubi to snort in amusement.

He checked the time and noticed that it he'd have to meet that mysterious teacher of his pretty soon. Turning to look at the still blushing Hinata he said "Look Hinata, like I said I'm sorry about that bet I made with your father but it just made me so mad when he put you down like that… but don't worry I won't lose so you don't have to marry me or anything." He blushed again at the word 'marry' but continued "Anyway I have to meet this teacher who's supposed to show me some stuff so… I'll come visit you tomorrow or?"

Hinata was playing with her fingers and blushing. _-Naruto-kun, I would gladly become a member of the branch house for you but… you can't give up your dream…-_ Naruto decided that if he was to get any reply from the shy girl he'd have to administer his patented 'anti finger playing no jutsu' and so he grabbed Hinata's hands effectively stopping the nervous motion, the blush didn't diminish however. With great difficulty Hinata was able to overcome the faint that nearly overwhelmed her and managed to squeak out "Hai… Naruto-kun… it would be nice to… if you would… tomorrow."

Bemused Naruto shook his head slightly and decided that she'd probably faint if he held her hands any longer. So he let Akai get her last petting of the day before collecting the kit and said "Well see you tomorrow then Hinata-chan… I gotta run so…" with that he left the room only to poke his head through the door a second later "Oh and get better soon okay so maybe you'll can help me with my training and stuff… well bye again." and then he was gone leaving poor Hinata in her bed pondering the most bizarre, yet at the same time most gratifying, lunch of her young life.

Naruto was pondering things along the same lines when he ran towards the Konoha hotspring resort with an easy lope. He wondered why on earth would his new sensei want to meet at the hotsprings though. _-Maybe he'll teach me some cool techniques involving hot water…- _At this images of lobster red Neji entered his mind causing him to laugh out loud along with Kyuubi. _-…or maybe he's just an old man who wants to take a nice relaxing bath while planning out my training…-_ Playing through the myriad of possibilities in his head he soon arrived at the hotsprings. Looking around the entrance he saw no sign of a white haired man so he decided to check the inside only to find them all but deserted.

At first he thought he was the only one in the hotsprings but that theory was trashed when he heard an oddly familiar chuckle, it reminded him of the sounds Kakashi-sensei made when he read that perverted book of his. _-Oh great, another day… another pervert. I guess I'll just trash that hentai while I wait for that Jiraiya or whatever-_ looking about he quickly spotted someone squatting near the fence that separated the women's side from the men's side… taking a better look of the man he could only feel despair starting to creep in. _-Old man… with a spiky white hair… and obviously a pervert… WHY THE HELL DO THESE THINGS HAPPEN TO ME? WHY?-_

Feeling somehow betrayed he decided to vent on the old pervert and snuck up behind him. "Hey you old man… why are you peeping at WOMEN'S bath? You aren't a PERVERT are you?" Feeling somewhat satisfied when he could hear the women running away from their baths he smirked at the old man who was yelling "BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!" in utter desolation. Naruto smirked and said "You are just a pervert… anyway are you Jiraiya?"

The pervert began a weird dance of sorts. "Thanks for asking… I am mt.Myobukugama's holy master sennin, also know as the toad sennin or the great Jiraiya-sama… remember that!" Seeing that Naruto was clearly unimpressed he added "And I'm no ordinary pervert… I gather data at the hotsprings for my novels, I'm a writer you see." Jiraiya whipped out a book labelled 'Icha Icha Paradise vol. 2' causing Naruto to point his finger at the book and stutter something. "So you are familiar with my works?" His expression turned gleeful. _-Ooh to think that so young would know my works… this is getting pretty popular I see.-_

He was totally devastated when Naruto began to yell "Aaahh that's the dirty book that Kakashi-sensei reads… you are even worse than he is if you write that smut." Naruto shook his fist "And you are supposed to train me not peep on women…"

_-Kakashi? So this is Arashi's brat… heh… all he would need is a change of clothes and he could easily pass for the young Arashi, hell even the attitude is similar. And if he has truly begun to absorb Kyuubi it would be interesting to train him.-_ Grinning as an idea formed itself Jiraiya cocked his head "Train you… why should I train you? You are just a brat who interrupted my data gathering. But seeing as you have potential I might consider it if you fulfil my request." He began to shape a female body with his hands "Bring me a fruit that has matured like that and I'll oversee your training."

Naruto was barely able to restrain himself from strangling the pervert and being sick over the cheesiness of the hentai's request when Kyuubi made a rather evil suggestion. Now he was barely able to restrain himself from buckling over in laughter as he yelled "Hey Ero-sennin, I'll get you your matured fruit in a flash… just you wait." as he took of in full run leaving behind one happy Jiraiya. _-Hehee I was going to train him anyway but if he delivers some sexy babes… well who am I to complain…teeheehee-_

Only a few moments later Naruto returned and presented the 'matured' fruit with glee causing a Jiraiya to fall flat on his face. When he got up he sweat dropped as Naruto was happily and quite extravagantly moving his hands over the large watermelon and chattering about how it had 'matured nicely'. _-Sheesh what a moron… maybe Sarutobi-sensei was wrong about this kid.-_ He began to twiddle his fingers with a lustful expression on his face. "You brat! I need sexy babes to inspire me…"

Naruto's face fell… he really, really didn't want to resort to this but apparently there was no alternative. A quick handseal later Naruto transformed into a naked blonde girl causing Jiraiya's eyes to nearly burst out from their sockets. Drool began to fall from the pervert's mouth as he yelled "I like you!" causing Naruto to think _-He's a moron!-_ The drooling pervert was circling around Naruto taking in all the details and spouting inane babble "What do you call this jutsu?" and "You are a genius."

Naruto was sweating slightly _-I seriously begin to think that all adults are perverts.-_ he thought while trying to compose himself. "Hey does this mean you are going to train me then?" The pervert nodded enthusiastically and stated that there was a condition. Now puzzled Naruto asked "What condition?" causing Jiraiya to turn around and poke his fingers together. Naruto barely made out the whisper of "You have to stay like that during the training." but it was enough. A vein popped on his forehead as he dispelled the henge and pointed a finger at the older man. "You are just a sukebe you… you ero-sennin!"

Quite surprisingly Jiraiya only laughed it out. "I'm not an ordinary pervert… I'm a SUPER pervert!" He quickly turned serious. "But enough of this entertainment… I was going to train you anyway because Sarutobi-sensei asked. Now let's leave and find someplace more private so we can talk…"

Few hours later they were sitting on a log in the forest. Jiraiya had proven to be an apt listener though he had been somewhat too keen to hear a detailed description of Kyuubi's 'human form' but Naruto shrugged that off as normal for someone who openly admits to being a 'super pervert'. The sennin looked thoughtful for a moment. "So basically you have to beat up a Hyuuga genius in one months time… hmm normally I'd say you don't have any chance but considering the fact that you can use Kyuubi's chakra, have a doujutsu that would allow you to analyze his moves… not to mention that you have worn Arashi's genjutsu bracers for the last two months or so." He stood up "Meet me here tomorrow morning at eight. I'll have a training schedule for you then, but as for now I need to go see Sarutobi-sensei…" with that he vanished in a whirl of leaves leaving Naruto sitting alone on the log thinking _-Damn I really need to learn how to do that…- _

Naruto was feeling content again. Ero-sennin, despite his obvious pervertedness, seemed to be a reasonably strong and given the fact that he was supposedly one of the legendary Sannin was only an added incentive. Besides that he'd found a nice surprise when he got back from his meeting with the sennin. Kakashi had been good to his word and had left several scrolls for Naruto to read, including to his delight scroll that contained the 'Chidori' and an attached note that said only to use Chidori when his Shinkugan was active to evade possible enemy counter attacks. There were also several notes made by Kakashi that detailed some tactics that might be useful against the Byakugan and all the info he had about Neji's abilities.

Next morning he was early at the agreed upon location and so immersed in the 'Chidori' scroll that he didn't even notice Jiraiya until Akai let out a warning yap which was rewarded by a small piece of jerky thrown at the kit as a gift from the old pervert who'd taken immediate liking of the cute little fox. "Well brat… I hear that your chakra control is good enough so today we'll try summoning." Biting his thumb and smearing his palm with blood he performed few hand seals and yelled "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" (Summoning Technique… duh) causing a large toad with a scroll in its mouth to appear. The toad then 'handed' the scroll down to Naruto while Jiraiya explained "This is a toad summoning contract… write your name in blood and press your fingerprints on the contract and you will be able to summon toads."

Naruto was about to do so when he was interrupted by Kyuubi who bid him to come and visit her. Complying Naruto concentrated and found himself on Kyuubi's meadow. The said fox was sitting near a similar looking scroll and said **"Now listen kit… I've been meaning to give you contract with foxes and while I can guarantee that they will co-operate but I can't say the same for toads. You would have to negotiate a deal with Gamabunta the boss toad if you are to sign their contract as well. Anyway here's the summoning contract so sign in blood please."** Bewildered Naruto complied and signed the contract only to find himself in the real world where he was being shaken by somewhat concerned Jiraiya. "Hey kid, what happened you just spaced out for a moment there…"

Naruto explained what had happened to the dubious looking Jiraiya who decided that regardless he should sign the toad contract because toads were much 'cooler' than foxes and because Naruto's father had also summoned toads. Shrugging the blonde complied, bit his thumb open and signed the contract after which the pervert dismissed his summoned toad. Running few times though the handseals necessary for summoning Jiraiya said "Now… if you really have two different contracts it's important that you focus on the animal you wish to summon. And now we will practice yes? Pull out all the Kyuubi's chakra you can and perform 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'…"

Snickering to himself Naruto complied and began to pump out Kyuubi's chakra in vast amounts, in fact he pumped out enough chakra that ero-sennin decided it would be prudent to put some distance between himself and Naruto… just in case. The decision proved to be wise seeing as there was a huge billow of smoke that solidified into a very large toad that bellowed **"JIRAIYAA! DAMN YOU JIRAIYAA!"** Needless to say Naruto was more than slightly intimidated by the belligerent, not to mention huge, toad but steeled himself nonetheless and climbed down to his nose making the toad raise an questioning eyebrow. **"Hey you little punk, where's Jiraiya?"**

Naruto looked to where the whitehaired man used to be but saw neither hide nor hair of the said sennin. Looking back up at the toad he said "Well he was there just a moment ago… anyway are you Gamabunta?" This made the large toad snort in disdain** "It's Gamabunta-sama to a little shrimp like you… now tell me why the hell did that perverted geezer summon me and why is there a weird little punk on my head!" **

Naruto blinked, he hadn't realized that summons didn't even know who summoned them. Shrugging the fact aside as unimportant he made a face "Well Gamabunta-sama I actually summoned you…" Making a forestalling gesture to prevent the toad from erupting into laughter he continued "…see I used Kyuubi's chakra to summon you. I'm the 'weird little punk' who got the damn fox sealed in me… and incidentally the seal has begun to drain the fox into me so I kinda got more than enough chakra to summon the likes of you." He now got Gamabunta's undivided attention. "Anyway the thing is, ero-sennin gave me this summoning contract and all but Kyuubi had me sign the fox contract. She promised that the foxes would co-operate but that I would need your approval of this as well."

Gamabunta was now serious. **"Hmm brat… so you are the one who was chosen to contain the Kyuubi. Give me one good reason why I should order any of my subordinates to serve you if you already have a pact with the furballs?"** Naruto shrugged, he really didn't know the differences between foxes or frogs… with the exception that foxes had tail and fur really. "Well I guess ero-sennin wanted me to summon toads because he and my father both had a contract with toads. Other than that I can't really say I mean it's not like I'm an expert on this summoning stuff… this is my first time you know. But maybe the old man could tell, he's hiding in that bush over there."

Gamabunta turned his gaze towards a now slightly shaking bush and bellowed. **"Jiraiya! Come out you dirty old lech. Is what this brat true… is he truly the Yondaime's legacy?"** The bush stopped shaking and Jiraiya popped outand began to tell an abbreviated version of Naruto's life. After some ten minutes of explaining the toad boss let out a bellowing laugh **"You are interesting you little punk! I'll let you become my subordinate and if you need the help of my kin, we will answer your call. Now get off my head so I can leave this place…"**

Naruto jumped down and Gamabunta vanished in a cloud of smoke leaving ecstatic Naruto and unnerved Jiraiya behind. "Well kid, I guess you did better than I expected with that. I was actually thinking that summoning might take you longer to learn so… that'll be all for today, but feel free to practice summoning and whatever it was that you were studying earlier." The pervert waved his hand and left thinking _-Arashi… my boy your kid is certainly something else… he even befriended the Gamabunta. But now for the important things… to data gathering!-_ he began to chuckle pervertedly while walking in the general direction of Konoha bathhouses.

Naruto stayed behind and began once more to study the 'Chidori' scroll. By dinnertime he was hungry, tired and happy… he'd advanced noticeably due the similarity between his foxfire and the 'Chidori' and was now capable of performing the initial stages. He still lacked control due the vast amounts of power needed to perform the jutsu but that would come in time… now if he only could learn to perform the 'Hiraishin'. Looking about he noticed to his dismay that Akai was feasting on a rabbit she'd hunted down on her own and didn't look willing to share, so he picked up the kit and her meal and headed home for a meal of his own. Having filled his stomach with sweet-and-sour pork, rice and vegetables he decided that a visit to the hospital was in order. He wanted to check on Lee… and Hinata, pondering again on the mysteries of emotions he headed towards the hospital.

This went on for a week, he would train with ero-sennin during the days perfecting his techniques and learning new ones. Jiraiya actually knew the principle behind 'Hiraishin no Jutsu' and had begun to explain this to the eager boy. To further his understanding in the technique Jiraiya taught the boy how to perform 'Shunshin no jutsu' (Body flicker technique) that produced a similar only weaker effect of 'Hiraishin'. At the end of the week Naruto had pretty much mastered the use of 'Shunshin' and 'Chidori' and had actually managed to correctly perform 'Hiraishin' three times… out of the hundred or so times he'd tried.

And then the week was over he found out that Lee was already released and was slowly trying to get back to his brutal training regimen and that Lee was actually eager to help him train against Neji. Something which he politely declined saying that he couldn't accept the offer for another week at least lest he aggravate Lee's injuries. This seemed to deflate Lee slightly but he quickly bounced back up declaring that he would be better than ever after one week and if he wasn't then he'd… Naruto sighed, some things never changed.

Other thing that changed during the week was that Hinata was released from hospital but restricted from doing anything strenuous for at least two weeks. She then did something she considered daring… and brought Naruto and herself lunch the following day, something which Naruto readily accepted. Jiraiya didn't complain either, his policy was that there were never too many women around… especially adorable girls like Hinata. This went for another week until the damnable pervert asked Naruto to share some details about his cute little girlfriend, something which resulted in a seriously pissed off Naruto and painful beating by two chakra composed tails.

The question itself wasn't the only thing that had pissed him off, it was the frustration on whether or not he actually felt any affection to Hinata as a person or did he feel something for her because she knew about Kyuubi and had accepted him. Naruto was so entangled in the layers of this question that he didn't even notice Hinata until he heard a soft "Ano… Naruto-kun I brought lunch…" Letting out a sigh Naruto turned around and decided that he really needed to talk about this with Hinata right now… well after the lunch anyway.

**TBC… **(in the first half of next week or something)

Author's rant

Suck on the cliffhanger people… BWAHAHAAHA

Anyway I said that this was going to come out in 2 to 4 days but it turned out to be 5 days… well the reason is that I got lost on the road that is life and the fact that this is clearly the longest chapter yet. I actually was thinking of chopping it in two but decided against it.

Oh one thing… please review people… you know tell me what you liked best what you hated most and stuff… thank you…

Yes Gaara is now gunning for the leaf… yay

I also had a lot of difficulty doing the Hiashi part. I really had only two ways to do it. 1) Disown Hinata and toss her to the street (and obviously to Naruto…) but that really didn't fit. 2) Do it this way… anyways Hiashi will eventually get nicer I think.

Anyway stay tuned for the next chapter… there's going to be some interesting (I hope) stuff in it. Like say Gaara vs. Sasuke among other things.

Eeh... I made a boo-boo... I had Naruto say that ero-sennin and the yondaime had a contract with foxes... while it was the toad thingy. Anyway I actually fixed it once but apparently forgot to save the change or something but anyways... Thx to Dragon Noir for noticing this.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 6: The Loser, The Genius and those pesky Tenketsu

The Hokage rubbed his temples, the last two weeks, since they found about the 'Sound-Sand alliance' and their plan to wipe out Konoha during the Chuunin exam finals, had been stressing. Finally though there was some release from the tension. The Sand Jounin Baki was standing before the Sandaime and was giving his report. "Hokage-sama… I successfully delivered the plans to the Kazekage and judging from my observations they do not suspect that we know about their intentions."

The old man sighed and began to fill his pipe. "And they didn't suspect foul play then?" He cast a cursory glance at the smiling Jounin and then observed his pipe mumbling something under his breath and lit the pipe with an academy level Katon jutsu.

Baki scratched his chin "Hokage-sama…" his voice changed its pitch. "…while it was not easy to maintain a triple layered henge I'm not called a Genjutsu specialist for nothing." Yuuhi Kurenai's smile widened. "It took some concentration to keep up the henge in those damn winds though… what with Baki's preference for billowing clothes."

The Hokage grunted in approval. "Indeed Kurenai-san, the wind country is aptly named… as for the other matter I'll trust your judgement." He cracked a smile. "Now I suspect you wish to check on your team yes? I believe you will find Aburame Shino training for the finals with Inuzuka Kiba in the woods. As for your third charge, Hyuuga Hinata was released five days ago and has spent her afternoons helping a certain blonde Genin in his training…"

This caused Kurenai to raise an eyebrow in amazement. _-Hinata-chan actually managed to gather enough courage to go visit him… or did he perhaps ask her. Hmmm I think I'll check on those two. But not before I take a soak in the hot springs… yes, a good long soak.-_ She sighed in anticipation of a well deserved bath and took her leave.

Half an hour later the Jounin was relaxing in a spacious hot spring sipping sake. It would have been perfect had she not been so immersed in the enigma that was Uzumaki Naruto. The 'dead last' of the academy, someone who had been unable to create a viable Bunshin, was now in the finals of the Chuunin exam. She sighed, having never really paid attention to the boy, beside his pranks that is. She never had held any animosity towards him for having the Kyuubi sealed in him but hadn't really even acknowledged him as a human being… She sighed again, no matter how you looked at it the kid didn't deserve what he'd gotten. Abuse and all that and yet, he wanted to protect everyone… to become the Hokage of all things.

And how he had impacted on her team, beating up Kiba and hopefully teaching him a lesson about overconfidence, not that Uzumaki was the best example of a cautious person. And then there was Hinata, the ultra shy girl who had great potential yet not the strength of will to achieve it, or so she had thought. Only a brief exposure to Naruto had made her fight against a superior opponent with a grace and determination she had never seen before, and to think that Hinata was now actually confident enough to train with Naruto.

_-I wonder what happened at the tower and at the hospital the day before I left for Sunakagure… All I got out from Hinata was blushes and stammering about a bet and branch house or whatever. I really need to look into that too… Aaagh I can't concentrate on relaxing when I'm out of the loop about my students.-_ With that final thought of resignation the red eyed Jounin decided that she had soaked enough and that it was time to go find her shy student and the loudmouth 'dead last' who had so effectively captured her heart.

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Naruto was poking his lunch nervously, he was hungry but didn't have the appetite. He was still too engrossed in exactly how he should and what he should say to Hinata. Sighing he tried to eat again only to freeze with the food halfway into his mouth when Hinata, who had noticed his unusual mood, asked "Ano… Naruto-kun? is… is there something wrong with your bento?"

The Blonde shook his head slowly and put down his lunch. "Hinata… I… look! Someone told me some stuff about you and uh… then Ero-Sennin asked something stupid today and I'm kinda confused right now so." He looked around nervously and then blurted out. "Someone said that you might be… you know… in l-love with me so I was just wondering because… you know I…"

Hinata felt her world crumbling, the most closely guarded secret of her young life was now out in the open and apparently Naruto wasn't all too pleased… why else would he question her so? She really wanted to die right there and then before Naruto could brush her off but that was unlikely even though there was a pain building in her chest. She considered bolting but decided that she couldn't outrun Naruto… so the only option was to confess and take the rejection and move on with her miserable life, not that anyone could ever like a shy and weak weirdo like herself. Sadly she muttered out "It's… true Naruto-kun… but don't worry about it I understand that you couldn't possibly like someone like me so I'll just lea…"

Naruto was dumbfounded, then got angry at... well himself mostly. He really wanted to smack himself silly for not making any sense but he really didn't know what he was getting anyway. One thing he did know though, and that was that he'd just screwed up big time. Almost reflexively he managed to grab Hinata's arm causing the shy girl stop in mid-sentence when he burst out "No! No! You got it all wrong Hinata. It's, what I mean is that I mean…" Growling out in frustration he slapped his forehead. "Look Hinata, no one and I mean no one has ever said stuff like that to me and I… I haven't really told you much about my life, it hasn't been… pleasant. So anyway what I'm trying to say here is that I like you and stuff but I don't know if I like you like as in 'like you' if you know… arrrghh"

At this point Hinata was utterly confused and more than slightly hopeful. _-He likes me!… he likes me!... And maybe even more oh I just wish...-_ Gathering her courage she began. "Ano… Naruto-kun… maybe you should take your time and focus on the exam…" her voice started to fade as she noticed the vigorous nodding coming from Naruto.

The blonde was nodding even harder. "That's right Hinata-chan… you know I had a 'crush' or I thought I had a 'crush' on Sakura-chan. And then well you know I told you about the dream I had after the seal was activated right? So anyway I noticed that I had just chosen to get a crush on her mostly because she was, and is, one of Sasuke-teme's fangirls. And I just want to make sure I'm not fixating on you right now just because you know about well…" he patted his stomach. "…I mean you are a great person and the very least I would be privileged to call you a friend… and even if I was well I mean I have to fight your cousin in less than two weeks and I have to win too so that this conversation won't just become trivial right?" He then flashed a dazzling, and relieved, smile at Hinata who was staring at him in shock. "So… I just really wanted to point this out because it's been distracting me and well now I feel a lot better… and uh… you think maybe we could talk about this after the exam and all?"

Hinata just stared, unblinking _-He really thinks I'm a great person and that he wants to talk about this later… but how bad has his life been if no one has ever…-_ She shook her self out from the reverie noting that Naruto was looking at her expectantly. Smiling shyly she poked her fingers together and nodded. "Naruto-kun… it's okay. It really is… and we should concentrate on your fight with Neji-niisan. I'll be able to help you train more after the doctors say it's okay for me to spar again so you can train against the Jyuken."

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This interesting conversation didn't go unobserved however, in fact it was observed by no less than five different individuals. An old man who was wearing Hokage robes, peering into a crystal ball and smiling somewhat happily at the antics of the two teenagers. Another old man was giggling to himself and thinking that he should stay after the exams to train Naruto… and to gather some hot 'data' about the foxboy and his soon to be girlfriend.

Yuuhi Kurenai was sitting in a nearby tree, under a Genjutsu that allowed her to mask her presence with ease. She really didn't know whether she should strangle Naruto, yell at him or pat him on the back… _-Or maybe I should explain to Hinata that he is a baka who doesn't know jack about girls… then again maybe she already knows that and if she knows about the Kyuubi then she might actually appreciate the concern of finding whether… Now I just wonder what that damn bet is.-_

Her thoughts about the foolishness of youths was cut short when she suddenly noticed that there was someone in the tree with her… two someones actually. Whirling around in a rush she came face to face with two foxes, both apparently under a similar Genjutsu as herself. She blinked… why where there foxes in the tree with her? And then promptly lost her balance and fell to the ground when the smaller of the two foxes stated in a cutesy voice. "Now Kurenai-san… it's not nice to eavesdrop on private conversation…"

Needless to say both Naruto and Hinata jumped up in embarrassment when they heard a loud cracking sound followed by a rather painful looking, and sounding, landing of Hinata's Jounin-sensei. Both were actually happy to get away from the awkward subject they had been discussing, both incidentally wowing to get back to it after the exams, but rather embarrassed at the possibility that someone had heard their discussion. Hinata was the first to stammer out a quiet "Kurenai-sensei what happened?"

Naruto already knew what had happened, or could very well guess. He had immediately, after having recovered from the shock, begun scanning the tree from which the Jounin had unceremoniously dropped from and had soon enough noticed his 'imouto-chan' and her trainer for the day, Kasshokumaru (kasshoku is brown) a brownish red kitsune summon, who was supposed to instruct her in the finer points of scouting and hunting. Shaking his head ruefully he motioned them both to hop down from the tree and then pointedly asked if they had done with the lessons and shooed them back to the forest.

He watched as the two foxes turned around and headed back to the forest, only to blend in the environment a few steps, and in Akai-chan's case a last glance and a mischievous wink, later. Naruto then turned about to face the inevitable questions and glances or whatever that would come from the downed Jounin. He wasn't disappointed… as soon as Kurenai's red eyes locked with his blue ones there was a demanding "Did that fox just speak?" He didn't even have time to start when another question was fired at him. "And what's this bet I heard about… you know on your fight against Hyuuga Neji?" He tried again only to be foiled by. "And where did that huge brown fox come from?"

Naruto was now sweating slightly but decided to cut in before there would be anymore questions. "Ah ano Kurenai-san… maybe I should explain things from the start… you see we were in the Wave country and…" He began explaining it all, leaving out only the extent of his current abilities. From Wave country, through the exams and finally into the bet he'd made with Hiashi. At this point Kurenai had to fight yet another internal struggle as to whether she would strangle Naruto or pat him on the back. Taking the middle road seemed to be the best bet right now so she simply raised an eyebrow and said "Well… I've got only one piece of advice to you… don't lose." The insinuation was not lost on Naruto, win or else…

Naruto, feeling somewhat slighted burst out "Ha! Hyuuga genius or not… no stuck up snob like him is going to beat me. Besides even if there was no bet, I promised I'd take that bastard down and I never go back on my word" This naturally made Kurenai smile slightly, she'd seen that same attitude when Naruto went against Kiba, the thing was that Neji was in an entire different level than Kiba. She shook her head and decided that maybe she should just let the two be for now and focus on prepping Shino for the exam. Bidding her goodbyes and wishes of good luck with the training she left them for their own devises.

After she disappeared in the woods a silence descended on the clearing. Both teenagers were alternating between staring at the ground and stealing glances at each other. Surprisingly it was Hinata who, while playing with her fingers, stammered out "Ano, Naruto-kun… I have my doctor's checkup tomorrow just before lunch so… I was… I was wondering if you could take a pause in your training and, um, come with me because hospitals…" the rest of her sentence would have been inaudible to most anyone but not to Naruto who smiled happily at Hinata.

"Heh Hinata I know what you mean, never been to a hospital really before I came to check on you but I can definitely see why that place would make someone nervous… the smell of sickness there" He made a face and waved his hand in front of his nose. Seeing her blink in confusion he continued. "Ah I mean… these kitsune senses are all well and good but still, I'd wish some places would stink less. The hospital for example stinks of disinfectants, sickness, blood and well… death."

Hinata was torn between being elated and mortified, she'd forgotten about Naruto's superhuman senses and had blurted out that she was afraid of hospitals… then again he was more than understanding and didn't scold her for being such a baby. Hopefully she glanced at the boy and asked "Ano… so tomorrow at eleven then… I'll bring lunch."

Naruto waved her off. "Nah, let's go to Ichiraku's after your checkup if that's all right. I mean that place is probably in destitute because their best customer has been up here training for the last two weeks." He made a face in mock concern. "So let's take it upon ourselves to save the old man from poverty!"

Hinata couldn't do anything but smile, she even let out a small giggle which faded away quickly when she noticed Jiraiya-sama, or 'Ero-sennin' as Naruto called him, emerging from the woods. The pervert made his way towards the pair and said "Ah, hate to break you two lovebirds up but if your lunch is over I need to teach, or at least try to teach, this baka a few tricks." Hinata blushed badly and began to gather up the remnants of their lunch while Naruto, also blushing, cast a sharp glare that promised pain towards the old pervert.

--------

After he bid Hinata goodbye and yelled "See you tomorrow!" after her while madly waving at the departing girl he turned to glare at Ero-sennin. "So what was so important that you had to break our lunch session? I mean aren't you supposed to be gathering 'data' or getting pummelled by the women who catch you gathering your 'data' or whatever. You haven't showed your face after lunchtime since day one…" He crossed his arms in a huff "And what the hell were you calling us lovebirds of all things… were just friends!" the last part came out somewhere between a yell and a desperate growl, something which Kyuubi and the old man both found quite amusing… and thoroughly unbelievable.

The old man smirked in amusement and ruffled the irate boy's hair. "Well now… I actually heard your little 'discussion' so that's why. And as for why I'm not gathering data… something came up." He sat down "There's something that requires my involvement and thus I won't be able to oversee your training too much in the next few weeks. However, I wasn't planning on teaching you any new jutsus anyway… I actually think you should now focus on mastering the ones you know. 'Kiri Gakure no Jutsu' or 'Shunshin' won't work against that Hyuuga. 'Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu' (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique) might work but then again the Hyuuga's tend to train their own to anticipate attacks from underground."

Jiraiya began to fill his pipe. "Your best bet would be to swarm him with clones, though even with your recent Taijutsu training he'll tear through them unless…" He lit the pipe and began to nod to himself. "Yes… yes that might actually work…" Naruto was getting agitated, the old pervert knew some super way to kick Neji's ass and wasn't even telling him. Swiftly he decided on the course of action and bonked the old man on the head while yelling "Oi ero-oyaji just spit it out already!"

Jiraiya simply shook his head and muttered something about impudent brats or the like before continuing. "Well from what you told me you favour using your clones when you fight. The problem with them is that they aren't as 'durable' as you are right? One strong hit, even if they manage to block it, is enough to destroy a clone. So…" Naruto was getting really impatient, Kyuubi's fits of giggles and **"Baka kit!"** comments weren't really helping either. Shaking his head again at the stupidity of the blonde the old man continued "Look moron… just learn to dodge instead of blocking. Now I'm sure your friend Gai has some funky ideas in that regard… just don't start wearing that green spandex of his or I'll have Gamabunta sit on you."

He stood up and dusted himself a bit "Now I'll be checking on you every few days… so if you have any questions I'll answer them. Other than that just train your Taijutsu and try to work on that dodging and you should be fine. Also you might want to keep on practising the 'Chidori' especially you should try using it in conjunction with your clones… twelve or so of you each with his own 'Chidori' probably would make even Orochimaru-teme to back off real quick…" He smiled at the boy and ruffled his hair again. "Anyway I'm off now so you take it easy and don't overwork yourself for the last week before the finals… and seriously… take your cute girlfriend out someday too."

Naruto threw a stone at the hastily retreating back of that damn pervert and mumbled a few choice curses at perverted hermits and meddling demons. He thought about Jiraiya's idea on learning dodging, sure he could dodge some but preferred blocking as it usually put you on a better position to retaliate. _-He has a point though, Lee tore through my clones like nothing and it was one hit one clone… even if they managed to block. And if that Jyuken is anything like Hinata-chan said it would be. Sigh… I guess I'll have to go see Gai and Lee and ask if they know a quick way to learn dodging. If they do I just know that it's going to hurt… a lot.-_

Next day, after a brief visit to the Konoha Hospital, Naruto and Hinata were eating at the Ichiraku ramen stand. Between bites, or in Naruto's case bowls, of ramen they were discussing Naruto's upcoming 'dodging 101' as Gai had called it. Hinata was somewhat dubious as to whether or not it would work but if Naruto was willing to try it... _-Guess I'll have to study some more medical jutsus tonight… poor Naruto-kun is bound to get hurt pretty bad.-_ She nodded shyly to the loud boy who was at the time slurping down his fifteenth bowl of ramen and agreed to meet him and Rock Lee the following day at their usual location.

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Around noon the following day Hinata arrived to Naruto's usual training spot laden with enough food to feed a small army. She stopped at the edge of the clearing, hiding behind a tree almost instinctively, and watched as Naruto did some light warm up exercises. That was when she suddenly realized what was different. _-I don't need to do what I've always done! I don't have to hide here and watch from distance… I can just walk right up there and join the practice… Though watching him without his vest on is.-_ She blushed at the thought and mentally hit herself with a newspaper while yelling _-Bad Hinata! Bad!-_

Thankfully she managed to get her blush down just in time or she would have been caught red handed, and would probably have died from shame, as Rock Lee came running from the woods with an enthusiastic smile. Adjusting a large and heavy bag on his shoulder he shouted of a loud greeting to 'Hinata-san' and 'Naruto-kun', managed to inquire about Hinata's health and spout his usual about the passion and flame of youth and such… all in one sentence. Hinata just smiled shyly and nodded to the 'Green beast jr.' as they both walked up to Naruto who was now smiling happily at them.

After a 'light' lunch, Hinata had really brought a lot of food because she surmised Naruto would need the extra energy, they began 'dodging 101'. Several hours passed and finally the lesson was over for the day. Lee offered to help Naruto home but he waved him off saying that he was just fine and they should continue the next day. The spandex clad Genin nodded happily and did his 'nice guy' pose promising to be there the same time tomorrow and then vanished in a blur of green.

Naruto on the other hand simply collapsed. He was bloody, bruised and felt like he'd gone through a wringer. _-Oh man, this is worse than I though it would be… seriously I can understand the idea but why the hell do you have to use fist sized stones in this exercise, wouldn't rubber balls or something be better. Then again stones are easier to come by and Gai said something about this toughening me up or whatever… ugh I'm too tired to even think of using any medical jutsus… maybe if I tap into Kyuubi's chakra, that has always made me heal faster.-_

His ponderings were interrupted by Hinata, who had initially been rather reluctant to throw stones at the boy she loved but had at Naruto's prompting put some more strength into the throws. "Ano… Naruto-kun… I studied some medical jutsus while I was at the hospital and I… if you want I could try and heal some of those bruises." Seeing the relieved look on Naruto's face and hearing an encouraging "It would be great practice!" from him she flicked through the handseals and put her hands on Naruto's chest.

Naruto began to feel better almost instantaneously, warmth was flooding into his sore body from Hinata's hands that were gliding over his chest and there was also a slight tingling sensation from when the medical jutsu began to work on his bruised flesh. He couldn't help it, he was way too tired and the feeling of warmth was overwhelming, he yawned… and then promptly fell asleep on the ground he was lying on. This however went unnoticed by Hinata who was concentrating on healing the bruises and desperately trying to control her blush, at least to the point where her hair was not in danger of catching fire, as she gently moved her hands across Naruto's bare chest.

After fifteen minutes of healing, and not so slight blushing, she was done and looked at Naruto expectantly only to finally realise that the blonde had fallen asleep at some point of her ministrations. She blinked several times and on impulse did something she would never have dared to do… courageously she reached out and caressed Naruto's hair. Only to jerk her hand back in fright when Naruto tossed his head slightly at the touch and mumbled something.

The shy Hyuuga was torn, she knew that lying on ground after a hard workout was far from being healthy… but on the other hand, he looked so peaceful just lying there with a hint of a satisfied smile on his face. Again the urge to touch his face overcame her and she reached only to hear a voice that nearly made her jump out from her skin. "Ne Hinata-neechan did Naru-niichan fall asleep?"

She quickly scampered on her feet and looked at the now amused Akai who was in the process of poking Naruto's torso with her forepaw. Hinata was again blushing, _-I hope Akai-chan doesn't think I'm some kind of weirdo because I touched him when he was sleeping…-_ she began to play with her fingers again before stammering out "Ano Akai-chan, do you think we should wake him up? I mean he worked so hard and he could catch a cold or…"

Akai was now sitting on Naruto's chest and was poking his chin with her forepaw. She turned and peered at the girl mischievously. "Ne Hinata-neechan… poking him usually doesn't do the trick if you want to wake him up. Usually I need to lick his face or ears before he does so… go ahead and don't mind me." She did her best imitation of a foxy grin at the furiously blushing girl and began curl up in a ball on Naruto's chest. Burying her nose into her bushy tail she said. "Though I think it would be best to let him sleep until it's dinner time, judging by the smell of sweat that on him I'd say he's had a exhausting few hours… and he won't catch a cold I think, what with Kyuubi-sama being merged with him and all."

With that the little kit closed her eyes and let out a small purr of contentment leaving Hinata to stare at the sight. She blushed again at the suggestion that she lick Naruto's ear to wake him up. _-I can't just leave him here either, it would look really odd if I just vanished so maybe I'll just read little more of that medical scroll…-_ She nodded to herself and sat near Naruto and began to read her scroll, casting occasional glances at her sleeping hero.

As Naruto was slowly making his way towards wakefulness he became aware of two things. First, there was someone softly nibbling his ear. And second there was a faint scent of jasmine. _-Hinata, is she…?-_ Still less than half awake he moaned out "Ah Hinata-chan" eliciting a gasp from the Hyuuga girl and a triumphant "See I told you he would have liked it if you did it!" from Akai-chan. Snapping his eyes open and bolting upright Naruto surveyed his surroundings… there was smirking Akai and beet red Hinata. He began to back out frantically while blushing and trying to stammer something frantically, only to be cut off by Akai's "Ha Naru-niichan did you think it was someone else hmm?"

Hinata on the other hand was somewhere high above cloud nine. _-Naruto-kun thought it was me and looked like he was having a good time too…!-_ She then looked shyly at Naruto only to notice that he was still sporting a deep crimson face and had trouble forming most basic words. _-Wow he's really out of it… I wonder did I or do I act like that when I try to talk to him.-_ Suddenly she 'saw' herself beside Naruto, twiddling her fingers and trying to stammer out words. _-Oh Kami! I probably do…-_ The image was so hilarious that she couldn't stifle a slight giggle, which opened a floodgate of giggles and soon she was laughing so hard that she actually had tears in her eyes.

Naruto, after some initial confusion, realized just how stupid he probably was acting and began to laugh too, albeit embarrassedly. After a good few moments of laughter they both began to calm down. Hinata was first to smile shyly at Naruto. "Ah gomen Naruto-kun… I didn't mean to laugh at you but it was just that… you looked so… so…"

The blonde was scratching the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Yeah I know. I mean ah… that was kinda embarrassing and everything. But you know, this is one of the few times since I was a kid that I actually managed to make someone laugh without deliberately goofing off." He cast a mock glare at the little kitsune that still rolling on the ground making little yapping sounds. "Anyway ah, I didn't mean to fall asleep or anything but I have to say that…uh your medic skills are good at least." He flexed his arms a bit and glanced at the sky. "Uh well anyway we should probably be going, seeing as it's getting late and everything… so."

--------

The next day was pretty much the same. Naruto was jumping and dodging around a continuous hail of stones and was steadily improving, although he still got hit just as much seeing as Lee increased the tempo gradually to match his progress. After their training he got patched up by Hinata though he made sure he wouldn't fall asleep again… not that he really minded the extra sleep, but the lip he got from Kyuubi and Akai-chan after the first day was more than he was really willing to put up right now.

Four more days followed, mostly the routine didn't vary. Naruto would practice his jutsus on the morning and on afternoon he was subjected to Gai's dodging practice, he got patched up afterwards and did few light exercises on the evening coupled with some reading and whatnot. Akai for her part trained with summoned foxes in the art of moving about unseen and during evening was practicing long distance communications with Naruto. On the fourth day Lee declared that it was time for the ultimate dodging test and that Naruto should remove his training weights so that they could really get a feel as to how much he had progressed.

They were all quite surprised by the sheer speed that he was exhibiting while dodging almost every incoming rock… that was until Naruto decided to make several clones to join the stoning, clones that effectively pummelled him into unconsciousness with a double 'Iwa Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' (Stone shadow clone…bla bla bla). When he came to Lee was pumping his fist in the air and graduated him with honours from Gai-sensei's 'excellent' course of 'dodging 101'. He also jumped about excitedly and yelled that tomorrow would be the last day he was forced to restrict himself to only light physical exercise and made a 'nice-guy' promise that he would help Naruto with his Taijutsu practise like his youthfulness demanded.

Both Naruto and Hinata sweatdropped slightly at this, but Naruto quickly recovered thanking Lee. Hinata pointed out that she was given a clean bill of health earlier the day and that she would like to spar with Naruto too to give him more familiarity with the Hyuuga Jyuken style. There was only one little thing. "Ano… Naruto-kun… I have a family matter that requires my attendance tomorrow. So if it would be alright I would join you and Lee day after tomorrow?"

Naruto just waved her off. "Sure thing Hinata, I mean I've been running you both ragged for the last week and you guys need your own time too… besides I've been training real hard for the past three weeks so it might be a good idea for me to take a day off too. So I'll see you guys day after tomorrow… same time, same place right?. And Lee… I'll see you at the usual place four thirty right?."

At that Lee pumped his fist in the air and yelled "YOSH! Truly the flames of youth burn fiercely in you Naruto-kun… and together we will prove that genius of hard work can overcome a mere genius!" With that he took off in a blur of green leaving Naruto and Hinata blinking at his antics. Grabbing Hinata's hand Naruto began to lead her towards the town. "Ne Hinata… how bout we get some ramen to celebrate?" Hinata could only nod and follow the enthusiastic blonde while trying to enjoy the feel of his hand in hers to its fullest.

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Naruto stretched languidly and looked about while scratching his head lazily. He decided that a day off should start with a breakfast and proceeded to give Akai her minced meat and rice and served himself a hearty helping of cereals with cold milk and strawberry jam. Two bowls of cereals, some fifteen minutes and a cold shower later he was heading towards Team Seven's training ground on an intent to do some light exercises and test his clones dodging abilities. Much to his delight each clone lasted from half a minute up to full two minutes against him in single Taijutsu only combat.

He was just finishing his workout when Sakura showed up, wearing a tired and worried expression. She hadn't seen either of her teammates since the preliminaries and was worried sick about Sasuke… and to an extent Naruto. The boy in question frowned at the sight of his teammate and even more at the subdued tone of her voice when she greeted out "Hey Naruto…"

He forced a smile on his face and yelled out "Ohayo Sakura-chan! You alright… you seem kinda tired or something? Been training hard since the prelims? That was a great fight by the way…" He trailed off, something was wrong with Sakura… seriously, normally she would have greeted him back and/or yelled at him for asking such pointless questions. Naruto frowned "Sakura-chan… what's wrong?"

She sighed and sat down heavily. "I just feel so useless… I mean I was the only one from our team who failed and, and now I don't even know where you guys are and I was worried and." Naruto frowned even more, he could deal with angry Sakura, or with Sakura the rabid Sasuke-fangirl… but Sakura who was totally dejected, with eyes brimming with tears was something out of his experience.

"Eh… how are you a failure Sakura-chan? I mean out of what one hundred and seventy something Genins from all the ninja countries you were one of the twenty who made it to the prelims." Still no response "And you didn't even lose, you fought your opponent to a tie so there's nothing to be ashamed of." He cringed slightly at the pain that was to come. "I've been training in the woods over there and Sasuke-teme is with Kakashi-sensei so that he won't lose too badly to Gaara." He smirked… almost there. "You know because that teme is just a weak loser who thinks he's all too cool." There that did it.

He wheeled around and took off like a bat out from hell with a raging Sakura hot on his heels. After about ten minutes of chasing Naruto around it became obvious that she was running out of steam so it was time for the next phase. Naruto ducked around a tree and quickly produced a clone to take his place as he hopped into the safety of a nearby tree. From his vantage point he was mildly impressed in the clone's ability to dodge and evade Sakura's blows, however all things came to an end and the clone vanished in a poof of smoke when a fist of doom impacted on its head. The look of bewilderment on Sakura's face was too much for Naruto and he made a fatal error of judgement… he fell from the tree while rolling in laughter.

After a brutal beating followed… not really, Sakura was feeling too good to really pound the baka so she just smacked him around a few times, soon after they were both sitting on the ground. "So Naruto no baka… you've been training? And do you know where Sasuke-kun is?"

Naruto just shrugged at this. "Yeah well… I know that Sasuke is off with Kakashi because I was going to ask Kakashi to teach me some stuff but… it's because of the Sharingan and all. I think the teme is doing just fine." the blonde rubbed the back of his neck "I was actually here because it's my first day off since the prelims so… I just figured I'd do a light workout and all that. As for training… you won't believe who I got stuck with. Ero-sennin… he's the super-pervert who writes those dirty books that Kakashi-sensei reads, you know 'Icha Icha Paradise'." Sakura blanched at this. "Anyway he's pretty strong and all so I learned a few jutsus and then I've been practicing Taijutsu mostly, and learning how to dodge so that my clones stay alive a bit longer."

He stood up and pointed a finger at Sakura. "Anyway Sakura-chan you should start training too. It's only half a year to the next Chuunin exams and it's possible that neither me, nor Sasuke get promoted in rank so you need to start preparing. And besides, with too much time on you hands you get all moody and stuff… training always works for me if I have too much time on my hands. You could try running up and down trees or ask someone who knows more about this stuff." Naruto waved at the gaping Sakura "Well I'll get going and see if I can dig up some trouble or something… make sure you come to cheer for us in the finals… see you there"

Sakura just sat there watching as the baka left to 'find trouble'. _-Since when did Naruto start making sense? He's right though, maybe I should start training harder… maybe Sasuke-kun would like me more if I was stronger.-_ with that and a loud **"HELL YEAH!"** from 'inner-Sakura' she decided to visit the library to find out some motivational 'Get strong quick' books.

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Naruto was wandering around aimlessly, he had been thinking about finding Konohamaru-corps and playing ninja with them but didn't quite feel like that anymore. He had suddenly realized that he hadn't even so much as thought about Sasuke before meeting Sakura, he realized that it wasn't about beating Sasuke anymore… it was all about beating Neji… hard. He was in so deep thought that he almost stumbled upon the 'lazy bum' Shikamaru who was silently watching the clouds on a hill. He had almost panicky expression on his face when Naruto noticed him and he whispered out "Ino didn't send you did she?"

Naruto just blinked and shook his head making the other boy relax visibly. "Good… I swear that bossy woman has been on my case 24/7. It's all about training, training, training and some more… so troublesome. She even bullied Asuma and Chouji into 'training' me." Naruto smirked at this. "Blah smirk away Naruto… I tell you she's got her eyes on you, just like she's got em on Sasuke. So after this troublesome exam is over she'll be off my case and onto yours." Naruto was starting to panic slightly at this but didn't have a chance to reply when a shrill "SHIKA-KUN WHERE ARE YOU?" cut the air.

Naruto didn't have even time to react when Shikamaru pulled him on the ground. "We're doomed it's Ino… you, you always managed to pull some escape trick after you pranked someone so how about sharing… this is so troublesome." Naruto thought for a moment then whispered something in a low tone to Shikamaru who despite looking dubious nodded in agreement. Only moments later Yamanaka Ino came to a spot where three kids, she recognized them as the Hokage's grandson and his friends, were playing.

Putting on a cutesy smile she asked "Hey Konohamaru-kun have you seen a lazy Genin hereabouts? One with a ponytail, sour expression and fishnet shirt…" Ino's smile faltered little as 'Konohamaru' flashed a grin and said "Maybe… but that info will cost you…" she was about to torture the facts out from the little blackmailer when an ANBU member made his appearance. Quickly patting 'Konohamaru' on the head she backed away lest the ANBU think she was going to attack the Hokage's grandson.

The raven masked ANBU just stood there for a moment and then said "Nara… the Hokage has demanded your presence." This confused Ino somewhat but then the ANBU continued "That goes for you too Uzumaki…" There were three poofs and, much to Ino's dismay, instead of the Konohamaru-corps there were Shikamaru, Naruto and Akai. She quickly got really mad at them and was about to strangle the stupid boys when the ANBU continued yet again "It's about the finals… don't keep the Hokage waiting."

Shikamaru, who knew his teammate well, muttered something about troublesome and then grabbed Naruto and made a mad dash past the fuming Ino yelling "Important Hokage business… see you later!" After they were out of Ino's sight the lazy Genin slowed down considerably and fixed an angry glare at Naruto. "You just got me into a most troublesome situation… that crazy woman is going to skin me alive…" He pointedly ignored any excuses about bad timing on the ANBU's behalf and such.

--------

The Hokage was watching the three Genins before him. Naruto was shifting his weight from one foot to the other obviously impatient, Shikamaru looked obviously bored and Shino… well he didn't show much emotion at all. He cleared his throat catching their attention. "Well I wish this was simply a social call or such where I congratulate you for making it to the finals but it's not. A situation has come up… Suna and Oto are planning a surprise attack on us during the Chuunin finals." He stopped to gauge their reactions before continuing. "The information we have is accurate and was gathered with the aid of one Suna's best Genin… Gaara, who felt that he owed us for a certain favour."

This brought forth intriguing reactions. Naruto looked almost happy, Shino only raised his eyebrow slightly and Shikamaru looked dubious. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, but what exactly did we do to him that made him betray his own village?" This made Naruto squirm, if the old man would explain how they had helped Gaara... that would raise more questions as to why and how Naruto had been involved.

The Hokage noted his discomfort and said "Now Gaara, who has requested that he be allowed to join our ranks, has given me permission to reveal the nature of this 'favour' … however it also involves a certain Leaf Genin and he has not given his permission as to this matter." He cast a surreptitious glance at Naruto who drew a deep breath.

"What he means Shikamaru is that Gaara has some issues, or rather that he had some issues as we helped him with those." At this the lazy Nara became quite interested, Naruto was involved somehow and that usually did make things interesting. "You see…" Naruto threw a look at the Hokage. "The Kazekage wanted to turn Gaara into a weapon so he had one of the Bijyuu sealed into him before he was even born. Ichibi no Shukaku, the one tailed Tanuki… however the seal was not sufficient to keep Shukaku at bay and Gaara has been tormented by the insane beast his whole life, until the Hokage fixed that recently."

Shikamaru was now bewildered, certainly he knew of the Bijyuu but to seal one such a creature inside a human being… "You see Shikamaru, they didn't seal Shukaku fully because they wanted to make Gaara as powerful as possible regardless of the price. They did this because they were afraid that Konoha would use their own Jinchuuriki as a weapon against them… they were afraid that I would be used against them."

Shikamaru paled and took several steps back. "You… you have one of those things in you?" He stopped to think, it made sense really if thought about it. How everyone acted so coldly towards him and how the older people would whisper when he passed. "Who is… sealed in you then?" At this Naruto's smile opened to show menacing fangs and his eyes turned crimson, if this wasn't enough Akai chose the very moment to poke her head from her carrybag. _-A kitsune, but there was only one kitsune among the Bijyuu and he was killed... and Naruto was born October the 10th…the day that Kyuubi... Kami-sama-_ He looked from the blonde to the old man and said in an almost fearful tone "Kyuubi, but how… he was killed was he not?"

The old man cleared his throat. "Well Shikamaru-san, we were unable to kill Kyuubi and the Yondaime chose to give his life in order to seal the beast inside the newborn Naruto. Basically the seal has been draining Kyuubi all these years and has now become more 'active' as you can discern from Naruto's changed appearance. Any further details you may grill out from Naruto if he wishes to speak of it. Now I remind you that this is a S-class village secret and then some so you are not to speak of this to anyone without Naruto's permission."

The Hokage took a deep breath "As for the reason you were summoned here… You are to take charge of the Genins who are at the arena and when the attack begins you are to get them to the Academy, once there you will be placed under the command of the Academy instructors. The plans we acquired from Sand indicate that they will send a relatively weak force of Genins and several Chuunins to the Academy to finish off our academy students. Your job will be to safeguard the Academy and the children there at all costs. If you have any further questions Umino Iruka will gladly answer them as he will be giving you a detailed briefing on the situation. I wish you luck… that is all you are dismissed."

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It was nearing sunset and Naruto was sitting on his favourite thinking spot, on top of the Hokage monument. After they had been briefed by Iruka-sensei on their role in the upcoming fighting, he had dragged Iruka to Ichiraku's for some ramen and to brag some… or he had planned to but the bragging was rather subdued. He had on Kyuubi's insistence asked Iruka for some advice regarding Hinata but had only received a shrug and "Follow your heart" from the older man, something which was enthusiastically echoed by the meddling demon. He shrugged and decided that it would be best to go home and try to catch some sleep… although he had a feeling he wouldn't be getting any.

Next morning Naruto wasn't exactly on his peak performance when he met with the ever energetic Lee, who incidentally was blissfully unaware of the impending war. Steeling his resolve Naruto decided to tackle the day the best he could and lost himself into intricate Taijutsu patterns as he tried to fend off the relentless Lee. After gruelling sparring matches, thousands of push ups and the miscellaneous callisthenics he was so beat that once he arrived at their next meeting place he fell asleep and didn't wake until Akai bit him rather ferociously on the ear.

The hour or so he had managed to nap did wonders though and Naruto was back to his usual, if slightly less enthusiastic, self and got a several hour workout from Hinata that convinced him that learning to dodge was a good idea if he was going to fight Neji. After few hours he had managed to isolate Jyukens only real weakness, it relied entirely on the use of hands to deliver the blows. As it was he was too tired to even feel happy about the discovery and managed to be only half polite when he declined Lee's invitation for a 'light' evening workout before or after dinner.

Two days passed with the same routine, he would wake up early in the morning and have his workout with Lee then he would rest a bit and head out to spar against Hinata to get a better feel of Jyuken. On the third day they got onto a discussion about the tenketsu and how to stop Neji from closing them, this was the time that Kyuubi decided to make her presence known. **"Kit think! You have learned that by closing your tenketsu the Hyuuga can shut down your normal chakra flow…"** She waited for this to sink in. **"and my chakra that flows through the seal could be defined as 'abnormal' as it is, so I would surmise that by using my chakra you should be able to negate any damage done to your tenketsu."**

Naruto nodded after listening to the Kyuubi. "Hinata-chan, please close the tenketsu on my arm if you would." When Hinata seemed little reluctant he added "It's okay Hinata… I should be able to reopen them again." This bold statement caused both Hinata and Lee to look at him in disbelief though Hinata understood when Naruto patted his stomach meaningfully. She nodded and activated her Byakugan and then slammed Narutos arm repeatedly with pinpoint precision. She observed as the chakra flow diminished into nothingness in the said limb and nodded "It's done Naruto-kun"

Hinata observed as Naruto began to change as he tapped into Kyuubi's chakra, and there… crimson chakra began to flow around his system and entered the disabled arm and began to circulate through the closed tenketsu opening them. She gasped, this was not supposed to be possible _-Naruto-kun… sugoi! You are so great-_ Lee's jaw detached itself and literally fell to the ground as Hinata declared "Naruto-kun… your tenketsu… they have reopened."

Naruto grinned triumphantly and said "Yeah… in your face Neji!... Now Hinata-chan that actually hurt a lot but… thanks. And if you could now shut down all my tenketsu to shut of my entire chakra circulation so I can see how long it does to recover from that." Hinata began to stutter, that would require some precise blows and even minute misses could cause severe damage to Naruto, her fears were overridden by the aura of utter confidence that was coming from the blonde. "Neh Hinata… do your best, or should I say worst" He flashed a bright smile at Hinata

It hurt, it really hurt… it took more than a hundred hits to close up all his tenketsu and in the end he was barely able to stand. He spat out some blood and looked at Hinata "Are… are they all closed?" After examining him with the Byakugan she nodded, looking mortified… Naruto had was spitting blood because of her. "Ok… ready then here we go!"

They both ignored the frantic questions from Lee while Hinata watched in awe as the seal began to pulse as massive amounts of chakra began to flow through it forming nine swaying tails of pure chakra that wrapped themselves around him. Naruto's eyes turned crimson, the whisker marks thickened, his fangs and claws grew and the nine tails transformed into two bushy semisolid tails that began to sway behind him. Hinata gasped as she saw a final pulse from the seal take form of grinning fox that winked at her… rather suggestively, she would have blushed had she not been in awe of the spectacle.

Doing a double take she answered Naruto's expectant "Well did it work?" with a squeal and run up to hug Naruto. He certainly wasn't expecting anything like that to happen but decided that it would be polite to hug bag, not that he really minded… not really. Suddenly Hinata stiffened, she'd just processed the fact that she was hugging Naruto-kun and he was hugging her back, bracing herself she gave a one last squeeze and then disengaged herself while blushing brightly and mumbled "Hai… Naruto-kun all your tenketsu are now open."

The moment was shattered by a loud thump when Lee keeled over in dead faint from the amazement. When he came to he was only able to mumble "How… it's not possible, it can't be possible… Neji is toast…" Naruto scratched the back of his head at this and looked at the boy who was staring at him in awe… he made his decision. "Well Lee it's like this…"

After an hour or so, during which Lee had been totally immersed in the story and had not uttered a word he finally spoke. "Naruto-kun… you truly are… I don't have the words, you are a hero…" Naruto raised his eyebrow. "To overcome prejudice and to rise above it… you truly burn with the passion of youth" The blonde sweatdropped, so much for hoping that tale would shock him out of 'Gai like' speech patterns. Meanwhile Lee had managed to get himself up and was now shaking his hand vigorously "Truly Naruto-kun I am honoured if you would count me as your friend!"

There was very little that Naruto could really say to that, he did say that he had already considered Lee a friend, something which sent a green blur at his way that suddenly wrapped itself around him in a rather disturbing male hug. Hinata tried to stifle her giggles at the sight but failed miserably, she had been more open around Naruto after the rather embarrassing incident that involved Akai-chan, a tongue and Naruto's ear. And the few remaining days passed in the same fashion, training, training and then more training until there was only one day remaining, a day that they simply spent plotting strategies, going through strengths and weaknesses of various other contestants and such.

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Finally it was time to start the finals of the Chuunin exams. Lee and Hinata accompanied Naruto to the gates of the stadium where they were met by Kiba who gave Naruto rather venomous glare, something that the blonde returned in full force. When he bid them goodbye he, much to Kiba's disdain, gave Hinata a warm hug before heading through the gates to the contestant's area. It wasn't until he took notice of Kyuubi's amused snorting that he realized what he had just done, blushing slightly he decided to forget that for now and headed to the arena.

He was looking around in awe, this was nothing like the prelims… so many people and they were all there to see them fight. He could almost smell the excitement in the air, but there was one thing missing… Sasuke-teme was nowhere to be seen, then again he was with Kakashi so… Naruto's awestruck gaping was rudely cut by a senbon chewing pretty boy. "Hey kid, stop looking around and face the customers… in this main tournament you guys are the stars."

Soon the Hokage had officially declared the start of the Chuunin exam finals and everyone aside from Neji and Naruto had left for the competitor stand. Akai had been somewhat agitated when Naruto had handed her earlier to Hinata asking that she take care of the kit for the duration, but had been mollified when Akamaru made his presence know. Now both of the animals were enjoying a relaxing petting in the hands of Hinata.

Down in the arena Neji was trying to get a rise from Naruto who only calmly stated that "I told you asshole… you are going down!" Without wasting any time after the match was called he made half a dozen or so Kage Bunshins that began to swarm against Neji who was smirking confidentially. The Bunshins really didn't last more than a moment, but then they weren't really trying either. Neji launched into a speech about how everyone's destiny is decided at birth and such, or he would have but had to stop short when Naruto only stood there looking totally uninterested. "Hey Neji you stupid bastard, did you know that fate helps those who help themselves?" This naturally enraged the Hyuuga prodigy and he was about to go against Naruto when the blonde produced a large swarm of Kage Bunshins that rushed against Neji.

"Hah, I'm not stupid… I have already seen through your attack pattern…" He dodged several blows "The true body… I know where it is…" Neji began to run through the swarm of clones. "It's the one doing least attacking and it's apparent that you are HERE!" He slammed his stiff fingers into the blonde's chest making him cough up blood, until 'Naruto' disappeared in a poof. Neji had only time to yell "WHAT?" when several more Naruto's appeared from behind their fist poised to strike. Just as Naruto was preparing to strike Neji began to spin, creating a veritable cyclone of chakra that demolished the clones and tossed Naruto several yards away from the Hyuuga.

_-That's the 'Kaiten' (Divine Whirl)… but how it's supposed to be restricted to main house members only, could he have learned it on his own?-_ Naruto didn't really have time to dwell on that as Neji blandly stated "It's over… You are in the field of my divination… 'Hakke Rokujuyon Sho' (Divination Field, 64 strikes)." Naruto cringed, this was going to hurt like hell and tried to get out of the way but it was too late. Blow after blow landed on Naruto and with the final yell of "sixty four strikes", Naruto was sent tumbling across the arena floor.

Neji walked over to Naruto who was curled up in a ball. "I have closed of your tenketsu, you can no longer stand nor use chakra… painful isn't it?" He sneered in contempt "Now stay on your knees before a power you cannot challenge and realize that you are worthless and that your dreams will never come through with hard work…" His lecture faded when Naruto, albeit wobbly, rose to his feet and smiled confidentially.

"Hey you… shut up already you stuck up bastard. You go on about how nothing can be changed and all that… Let me tell you that's all just a load of bullshit. If you are so damn strong and all then why'd you have to try and put Hinata down in the prelims, and when you failed that you tried to kill her. And I already told you that I'm going to put you down so stop acting so high and mighty and lets get this damn fight on."

Neji narrowed his eyes. "You know nothing, I'll tell you about the Hyuuga's destiny of hat…" He got no farther when Naruto cut in "Yeah yeah, you are a member of the branch house and all that, you have a curse seal on your forehead and everything… big deal… it's not Hinata's fault you know so just cut the crap and stop relying on 'fate' like it's some sort of a crutch or whatever." Neji just shook his head and sprinted forward planting his hand into Naruto's chest sending him catapulting backwards, he turned to the examiner and said "It's over"

The examiner just shrugged as Naruto's confident voice said "Don't you run away from me you bastard… You are just a coward who's blaming everything on fate and destiny, how the hell do you know what's possible and what's not if you don't even try to accomplish them first. And you know what…" He was now cut off in turn by an enraged Neji who was yelling "SHUT UP! YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS TO BE BURDENED WITH SOMETHING YOU CAN NEVER GET RID OFF!"

This made Naruto laugh out bitterly, images of his own past swimming before his eyes. "Oh I do understand… better than you can even imagine. But so what?... pfft stop acting all cool you aren't the only one who's special or who's suffered." He began mentally to yell at the Kyuubi "Ok 'Kyuu-chan' give me all you got…" there was a moment of silence, during which he heard Neji say something about intending to kill him, and then Kyuubi answered **"No…"** Naruto almost fell down from shock. "What the hell do you mean no? You stupid fox he's going to kill us if you don't open my tenketsu." Kyuubi giggled **"I'll consider it if you admit that you have the hots for Hinata-chan…"** Mentally promising to change Kyuubi's habitat back to its previous and gloomy sewer setting he grumbled "Fine so what if I have… now give me the damn chakra…." And she did…

The effects were spectacular. Up in the stands all present Hyuuga members, not counting Hinata, nearly fell on the floor as Naruto's seal began to pulse with almost blinding amount of chakra. Small, and not so small, rocks began to float upwards in the stream of chakra that gushed out from the seal, chakra that tore gashes in the ground around Naruto and finally took a form of a huge fox head that was looming over him. To everyone else the effect was less… visual, seeing how Kyuubi had decided to keep her chakra invisible to the naked eye.

Neji was taken back, Naruto's tenketsu were now being opened by the flood of crimson chakra that had formed a monstrous fox head above him, a fox that was glaring at him with burning eyes that promised pain eternal. He took a reflexive step back from the sheer amount of killer intent that radiated through a seal that had formed itself into Naruto's stomach. Naruto was shaking his head inwardly at Kyuubi's flare for theatrics. After a while he yelled in his mind "Oi Kyuubi you sadistic fuzzball enough torturing the poor bastard, he'll wet his pants if you keep up with that 'killer-demon-badass' routine any longer… besides this is starting to wear me out." Kyuubi grumbled something about not getting any fun, but her excess chakra began to flow back into the seal and soon only evidence of demonic chakra were the usual marks on Naruto.

Neji was backing away from Naruto now not really knowing what to think. _-What is he, suddenly he just opened his tenketsu and there was that odd chakra that was laced with killing intent… Great Kami such power-_ This was the same Naruto he'd seen when he was mocking Hinata after the prelims, the weird half-man half-beast with two… tails that were apparently made at least partially from chakra. For the first time since his childhood Hyuuga Neji was afraid.

Naruto reached to his second shuriken holster and retrieved a half a dozen shuriken, he prepared to throw them at the shaken Neji yelling "Ok you bastard, here's some attitude adjustment for you" and threw the shurikens while flashing through a series of handseals necessary to perform the 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu'. Neji managed to shake himself out from his stupor and perform the 'Kaiten' to block the ridiculous amount of shuriken speeding his way, when he stopped his spinning Naruto was suddenly behind him.

Neji tried to turn in time to counter the boy but it was too late, one of the tails swung forward smashing him on the side of his head making his vision swim. The other tail followed and wrapped itself around his midsection effectively binding his hands against his sides. The first tail then slammed him on the head again bringing him closer to unconsciousness and then wrapped itself around his lower body binding his legs in place. To the audience, who had been rendered speechless by Naruto's display of sheer power, it seemed that the Hyuuga prodigy was now suspended in air by a slight shimmering that seemed to come from Naruto. To all the Hyuuga's watching it was clear that the boy had grown tails that were keeping Neji in his place.

Naruto grinned wickedly at Neji and rammed his fist into his gut once, then again and then for the third time… He really didn't want to hospitalize Neji seeing as they would need his prowess during the fight that would start in few short hours. Neji's head lolled from side to side as he hung limp in the embrace of two chakra tails, Naruto grabbed his chin with a clawed hand and lifted his head so that they had eye contact. "Like I said… you aren't the only one who's suffered. Hinata-chan suffers because she is considered weak by her own father, weak because she's not the greatest Hyuuga genius of her time. And what do you do? You berate her, mentally try to break her and then try to kill her… You spout crap about how your fate is to protect the main house yet you try to kill Hinata. You are full of shit but maybe this will make you understand that."

Naruto drew back his fist. "Now do you yield or do I have to pound you within an inch of your life?" Neji's eyes seemed unfocus, then focus again but he didn't say anything. Shrugging Naruto was about to slam his fist into the Hyuuga's face when it was grabbed from behind by the examiner. "This fight is over… winner is Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto immediately let go of Neji, dropping him unceremoniously on his back and began to let go of Kyuubi's chakra.

He watched in awe as the crowd, people who usually sneered at him, were now cheering madly. He waved at the crowd and tried to spot Hinata from it only to find another Hyuuga… it was Hiashi. His eyes narrowed as he waved flippantly towards the Hyuuga head who acknowledged his gesture with a slight nod. He smiled as he heard the examiner tell Neji something about a caged bird that would still try to gain its freedom. His smile faltered when Kyuubi reminded him **"Now go find Hinata-chan and admit that you have the hots for her…"** He blanched making Kyuubi smirk **"What? You think it was enough that you admitted it to me huh? Well guess again kit."** The fox demon was rolling around in laughter when Naruto shot dark curses, threats and other nasty things at her while making his way to the competitor stands.

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There was a fifteen minute recess declared to sort out some confusion regarding the fights as Uchiha Sasuke was nowhere to be found. In the competitor stands Gaara was using this time to inform his siblings of certain 'changes'. "When the fighting breaks out you two will follow me and will not under any circumstances get in my way. We will make our way to the rear entrance of this arena where we will accompany the Leaf Genins to their Ninja Academy to bolster its defences"

Needless to say this gave both of his siblings a pause. "Ah Gaara… aren't we supposed to fight against the Leaf, not with them?"

Gaara fixed them both a freezing glare and stated casually. "I don't really want to hurt you… but if you raise your hand against the Leaf it will be the last thing you will ever do, am I understood?" His glare softened somewhat "You know father was responsible for me being so… uncontrollable. He deliberately had Shukaku sealed with an incomplete seal in the hope that I would gain more power, the plan worked to an extent but in return Shukaku was able to affect my thoughts… No more, thanks to Uzumaki Naruto I am finally free of its influence. This is why I chose to side with the Leaf, they have treated me like a human being instead of a monster that's inside me… and here I won't have to be alone."

He looked at them both again. "So please, do as I say… I really would hate to kill you before I really got to even know you." Temari and Kankuro could only stare at their brother and then turn to stare each other, they shrugged and then Temari did something she never would have considered before. She hugged Gaara and whispered "We'll do as you say… brother." Gaara stiffened for a moment from the unfamiliar gesture and then relaxed giving her a slight smile, a smile that was gone almost as soon as it appeared but a smile nonetheless… one of his first genuine smiles.

In the infirmary Hyuuga Hiashi was on his knees in front of his nephew, begging that he believe him about the day Hyuuga Hizashi had died. After the Hyuuga head left Neji to his thoughts he began to go through a paradigm shift that was rudely interrupted by a certain blonde Genin. Neji was somewhat confused _-Why is he here? did he come to finish the job or…-_ His thoughts were confused further when the blonde asked "Hey Neji, are you good to fight still? The medics will be here soon to look on you larger bruises and whatnot."

Naruto leaned on the door "Anyway when you are feeling better go find that Tenten girl from you team and then Lee, Hinata and Kiba. Also find Sakura, Choji and Ino and when you do gather everyone to watch the matches from a location near the back door. There will be trouble and when there is… Get your ass to the rear entrance with best speed and don't get caught up in the fighting. Shikamaru will be in overall command, followed by Shino and me so you'll do what we tell you to do. "He tossed Neji a small bag. "Here some soldier pills, distribute them among the Genins if they run out of chakra. And Neji… this is by the Hokage's orders so don't screw this up." He opened the door and let himself out leaving a confused Neji behind. _-What the hell was that all about?-_

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In the Kage stands a decision was made to postpone the fight between Sasuke and Gaara, and so the next match was called, it was Kankuro against Aburame Shino. Now Kankuro was initially about forfeit the match but a soft "Do you really want to make them think we are pushovers?" from Gaara made him change his mind. It took only a moment for them to begin their match after that. The match proved to be rather even, with Kankuro using Karasu to attack Shino who in turn used his bugs to crawl along the chakra strings that were used to control Karasu. The match ended when Shino's bugs managed to eat enough of Kankuro's chakra to make him fall unconscious from the exhaustion. The examiner was about to announce Shino as a winner when he too fell to the ground, having inhaled some of the poison gas that was released from Karasu. The match was then declared a draw.

The next fight was Nara Shikamaru versus Temari, who eagerly jumped to the arena and was yelling happily at a chance to pound some hapless Leaf Genin. A Leaf Genin who was quite reluctant to join the fray and needed some 'help' from Naruto, namely he got pushed down to the arena by the hyperactive blonde. As Shikamaru landed on his back to the hard arena floor he could only think _-Geeze, how troublesome… and why does it have to be another crazy chick, like dealing with Ino on a daily basis isn't enough.-_ Temari's enthusiastic charge cut his lamentations short though and the fight was on.

When Naruto watched the fight, he began to understand why the old man Hokage had chosen Shikamaru as the overall command position of the attending Genin. The lazy Nara that he'd dubbed as a 'lazy dumbass bum' was actually a bloody genius, he used multitude of diversions and finally managed to snare the otherwise superior Suna Genin with his 'Kagemane no jutsu' only to end the fight with a rather anticlimactic declaration of "I give up". In Naruto's mind Kyuubi sighed **_-It would certainly have been interesting to fight against him… oh well I must badger the kit to challenge him for a game or two of shogi or go…-_**

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At this point majority of the audience was getting restless, they had come expecting to see the fight between Uchiha Sasuke, the survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre and some Genin from Suna. The problem was that Sasuke was nowhere to be found. Just before the examiner, Shiranui Genma, was about to declare Gaara winner by default, Sasuke and Kakashi made their appearance. Gaara shrugged to Naruto as if it was a minor inconvenience and appeared in the arena in a whirl of sand. As Kakashi made his exit from the arena and into the stands above he briefly greeted Naruto and then proceeded to where the other Genins where watching the fight.

And the fight was on, Sasuke vanished in a blur and tried to break through Gaara's sand using speed that made Naruto raise his eyebrows. _-So Kakashi-sensei had him use the genjutsu weights hmm… He's still slower than I am, but that Taijutsu is without a doubt Lee's… I almost hope that he wins so I could beat the crap out of his high and mighty ass, but that doubtful… and Gaara will be more interesting to fight against.-_

He watched in interest as Gaara's sand tried to keep up with Sasuke's speed but couldn't do it with great efficiency and soon Gaara was forced to retreat within a sphere formed of sand. Naruto grinned at Sasuke who tried to hit the sphere only to have several spikes of sand protrude from the sphere and cut his hand. Sasuke then tried another tactic by withdrawing to the wall and flashing through a series of handseals to form the 'Chidori'. Naruto scoffed, the vaunted Uchiha genius had spent a month and had gotten himself new darker look, learned 'Shunshin no jutsu', gained little speed, copied one Taijutsu style and probably copied the 'Chidori' too, and it was low power one when compared against the power of his own 'Chidori', even without Kyuubi's boost.

He watched in glee as Sasuke dashed forward making beeline towards the sphere and then rammed his hand into it. His hand sunk and was stuck, Naruto smiled… the fun was about to begin. Gaara's sand wrapped itself around Sasuke's hand and then yanked him forcibly away from the sand user, not relinquishing its hold the sand began to toss Sasuke around like a rag doll and finally slammed him repeatedly to the arena wall with enough force to make even Naruto wince.

The arena was silent, it only took four blows and then the Uchiha prodigy was done for, slipping into blissful unconsciousness. Naruto just hoped Gaara didn't put him totally out of commission because, bastard or not, Sasuke still was more than one cut above your average Genin and they would need all the help they could get. There was still no sound from the audience, their precious prodigy had just had his ass handed to him by some anonymous Genin from the sand… and the next fight would be against Uzumaki Naruto, the… demon boy, who incidentally was the last remaining Konoha Genin in the tournament.

Naruto waited patiently as the mednins administered some on the spot treatment to Sasuke and then dragged his now conscious, but badly bruised, carcass to the stands where he could watch the next match. Smirking at the now awake and obviously pissed Sasuke he too performed the 'Sunshin' and appeared down to the arena in a twirl of leaves, he waved at the audience and then turned to Gaara. "Ready Gaara? I mean let's give it our best but leave the killing out right?" Seeing the other Jinchuuriki nod in confirmation he turned to the examiner and made a questioning gesture.

Genma brought his hand down and yelled "Fight between Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku no Gaara… BEGIN!"

Naruto began by putting some distance between himself and Gaara to avoid any tendrils of sand that might grab him early on. Without wasting any time he then made several clones that rushed towards Gaara and began to pummel his sand shield making Gaara to cocoon up in his sphere just like Naruto had hoped. He made several more clones and had twelve clones move in a perfect circle around the ball of sand, then he tapped into Kyuubi's chakra reserves for the second time that day… what he had in mind would take a lot of chakra, more than he normally could put up.

Inside his sand cocoon Gaara was observing the happenings calmly, although he began to sweat slightly when all the clones had their eyes turn red… he could still make out the real Naruto as he was the only one with those weird shimmering things behind him. His sweating intensified when the clones began to flash through hand seals and grabbed their hands forming a 'Chidori' that blazed crimson instead of the blue one Sasuke had used. The clones charged forward easily dodging the sand spikes that were aimed at them and within a second of each other slammed their 'Chidoris' into the sphere. Gaara's eyes widened_ -This is not possible… this must be the power of Kyuubi herself-_ as the sphere was overloaded with chakra and simply exploded into a cloud of sand.

Gaara quickly tried to recompose himself, scanning the area for the real Naruto but only too late did he realize that something grabbed him from below. Naruto performed the 'Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu' to a perfection and pulled Gaara into the ground so fast that his sand could not stay after him. With blinding speed the blonde Jinchuuriki slammed his fist twice to Gaara's forehead effectively cracking his 'Suna no Yoroi' and then brought his hand, claws first towards the boy's forehead. His claws dug themselves into Gaara's forehead, only to stop after breaking the skin, Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Uh sorry about that… meant to stop them just before I broke the skin." Gaara just blinked, he'd lost… totally and utterly for the first time in his life.

The examiner just stood there rooted on his spot, this was beyond anything he'd seen. He'd recognized the 'Chidori', a jutsu that took ridiculous amounts of chakra to perform, the 'copy-nin' Kakashi himself had stated that should he use it four times a day it would drain him pretty much dry. And here was the little shrimp Uzumaki doing not only a dozen 'Kage Bunshin' but making them perform a Kyuubi powered 'Chidori' while doing another jutsu himself. He shook his head in amazement and then said "Gaara is still able to fight yes?... so what are you waiting for?"

Gaara only blinked once at that and said "No… this fight is over, I would be dead had Uzumaki-san not restrained himself… I concede his victory."

Genma only nodded, he'd expected as much seeing as they were going to be fighting a real war in only a few moments. "Winner is Uzumaki Naruto… we will proceed with the final match after a five minute recess…"

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Temari was scared, she really was… how the hell was she supposed to fight against someone who totally trashed Gaara in less than five minutes and walked away from it without a single scratch. She shivered and looked at the blonde who was talking with her brother. He could make out Gaara's "Naruto… please if you can, refrain from hurting my sister too much." She felt less uneasy after that statement and a reassuring foxy grin from Naruto who was now rapidly whispering something to Gaara. Whatever relief the wind user had felt fled rapidly when her brother's smile began to grow more wicked by the minute, it wasn't a 'I'll feed you to my sand' smile but very unnerving to say the least… especially when Naruto turned to her and flashed another grin, this one laden with mischief.

The recess was over and Naruto was facing the now very nervous Temari down on the arena. When the fight began Naruto immediately flashed through handseals and yelled 'Kiri Kagure no Jutsu' causing a thick fog to roll up the area, Temari was quick to retaliate but didn't hit her mark as the mist began to deepen. She heard some rustling from behind her and quickly turned waving her fan to perform a 'Kamaitachi no Jutsu' (Cutting Whirlwind Technique) towards the sound. There was only silence after that… until a creepy voice began to chant from all around her. "Eight points… the larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, brain, kidney and heart. Now, which vital organ do you want to get struck at?"

In the stands most of the audience were creeped out by the sheer maliciousness of the voice, a simple Genjutsu trick really, something that Naruto had some experience in due his perfection of 'Oiroke no Jutsu'. The thing was that the voice sounded like that of a totally insane person. Kakashi smiled into his mask… Momochi Zabuza, the poor Sand girl had to be out of her mind right now. And indeed she was, Temari was literally shaking, being only barely able to hold her fan and turning this way and that as the source of the voice moved around her with an incredible speed. Suddenly she was felt a hot breath and a set of claws against her throat, and several pairs of hands that grabbed her own effectively binding her. Then the creepy voice said "BOOO!"

The audience was grumbling, there wasn't really much to see in this fight and the voice had gone silent moments before. Then suddenly there was a shrill, blood curling scream that spoke volumes of the brutality of the fight. The mist cleared and there was… sheepishly grinning Naruto and three clones holding to a fainted Temari, he looked at the stands and shrugged apologetically at Gaara's general direction.The examiner only shrugged, cataloguing this as yet another quirk that seemed to characterize Uzumaki Naruto.

He faced the Kages and the audience and yelled in a loud voice. "Winner of the final match and thus the Chuunin selection exams… UZUMAKI NARUTO!"

**TBC… **(as soon as I get the next chapter out…)

Author's rant

Umm this one was really, really late. You see I was on the road of life… I didn't get lost or anything, it was just that I was on a really steep point on the road, there was some ice too so it was slippery. I had my dog with me and she saw a squirrel and decided to pounce on it… I naturally wasn't prepared for that and did managed to slip pretty neatly. Now I didn't break anything but my left wrist got twisted reaaaal bad, the doctor said I was lucky I didn't break it. So basically they put a splint on it to keep me from moving my wrist and the damn thing covered my palm too so… You try to write stuff using only one finger… So I just decided to read fanfiction instead of writing it but now I'm back in the saddle.

Other than that hmm… yeah right, plenty of people have been wondering if Naruto is going to make a Chidori/Rasengan combo… I don't think so. I mean Chidori is like a stabbing jutsu where as the Rasengan is more like a drilling or grinding jutsu.

And why hasn't Naruto learned the Rasengan yet? Well… it supposedly took Jiraiya what, three years or something to master the jutsu and Naruto only had one month… Anyway Rasengan comes after the next chapter so stay tuned.

Is Naruto too powerful? Well I don't think so, I mean he surprised Gaara there… or so I thought it up.

When will Naruto start making out with Hinata? Haha ain't telling… but there will be 'Icha Icha Foxboy' and a perverted Demon soon enough :P

Right… anyway stay tuned, it'll be the big Sand/Sound/Leaf war in the next chapter. There's also going to be some killing and Hinata is going to go ballistic!

Other than that… review people it swells my ego when you do!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by Kyuubi"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 7: The War of the Villages, Fight of the Shadows

Naruto stared at the crowd in awe as he heard the examiner yell out. "Winner of the final match and thus the Chuunin selection exams… UZUMAKI NARUTO!" He just watched as the roaring increased its tempo… they were cheering for him, the Demon boy. Then something that looked like feathers began to rain down and the cheering died down making the boy wonder what was going on… he was quickly answered by Genma's voice "Look lively Uzumaki. It's starting and you have your orders."He quickly formed a tiger seal and after gathering chakra whispered "Kai! (release)" to fight the off the effects of a sleep Genjutsu.

Near the rear entrance of the arena the rest of the Genins where going through the same motions with Kakashi and Gai who were there as well. They stopped their attempt when Kakashi declared that the Genjutsu had been disrupted and that the imminent danger had passed. The Jounin turned to Shikamaru and said "You have your orders, proceed to the academy and help cover the evacuation of the students." Turning his head towards the others he then continued. "Battle orders place Shikamaru in charge of you until you reach the academy, Shino and Naruto are next in line for command… now go and good luck."

The last part was said just when Naruto joined the group with his clones who were carrying the unconscious form of Temari with them. He grinned sheepishly at Gaara again and then proceeded to 'wake' Sand girl up in his own fashion… A few handseals later a ball of water, about one meter in diameter, formed over the prone girl and promptly fell on her. The now dripping and quite wide awake Temari was about to attack Naruto there and then but was restrained by Gaara's commanding "You can kill him later Temari, we have a job to do."

All the Leaf Genin, aside from Shikamaru, Naruto and Shino looked still somewhat confused at the events that had taken place. They were however been trained for eventualities like this and as such quickly reacted to orders from Shikamaru. "All right! Sasuke, Neji and Lee you are up front, don't toy with any opponents you come across. Just disable them and make towards the academy at the best possible speed… however make sure you don't get separated from the rest so maintain distance… Tenten and Sakura you are their support along with Ino."

The six Genins nodded and formed up and began to make their way towards the gates. Shikamaru continued. "Naruto, you and your clones are to support them and our rearguard. With you are Shino, Kankuro, Choji and myself… Gaara you and your sister along with Hinata and Kiba are in the rear, use your sand to deflect any attacks and such and leave any who get close to Kiba, Hinata and Temari." With that the Shadow user whirled about and took of to follow their vanguard.

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Naruto was quickly getting bored or he would have was it not for the fact that this was the real thing instead some lame exercise. All the Genins where jumping from rooftop to rooftop towards the academy, and they already had the building in sight but had yet to engage in anything aside one hapless Sound nin who had the debatable luck of jumping right to Lee's path. The spandex-clad youth didn't even give his opponent the courtesy of slowing down but instead twisted almost impossibly to perform a flawless midair sweep kick. The blow hit the Oto nin square on his neck, whether the blow was fatal or not was a trivial detail as the man in question plummeted good twenty meters downwards… face first.

Things began to change rapidly when they reached the academy however. There was a team of four Sand nin at the entrance who, judging by their vests, were at least Chuunin. Neji, Lee and Sasuke quickly engaged one opponent each while Sakura went after the fourth. Tenten observed the situation calmly waiting for opportunity to present itself… it never did.

Sakura knew she was outmatched against the Suna nin but still was formulating a plan, she manoeuvred her opponent into a position and then yelled out loud "Ino-Pig do your thing…"

Suddenly the Suna nin froze for a moment and then cracked a smile. "Damn it forehead girl I told you not to call me that. Now knock this guy's lights out on the count of three."

The pink-haired Kunoichi cracked her knuckles menacingly and then slammed her fist straight into her opponent's temple. Ignoring the call of "Nice hit forehead girl" she just stared at the slumped form of the man before her. Inner-Sakura was cheering **"Take that you loser!"** while she was thinking _-Heh that baka Naruto is useful after all… all those beatings I've given to him really paid off… wait did that Ino-pig just call me forehead girl?-_

Sakura and Ino were about to engage in yet another of their catfights but the arrival of the rest of the Genins and a swift reminded that they were in war was enough to defuse the situation for now.

As for Neji, Lee and Sasuke… they had managed to dispatch their respective opponents with little difficulty. Neji had predictably used the Jyuken when he, with little emotion, ducked under his opponents guard and stopped his heart with a well placed hit of a chakra emitting hand.

Lee was forced to take less direct approach as his opponent shot a number of sand shuriken his way. He jumped over the incoming projectiles and then used his right hand to pivot straight towards Sand nin. With little effort the Green Beast Jr. deflected any blows aimed at him and proceeded to sweep his opponent off his legs and then ended the fight with a heel strike to the chest which effectively crushed the ribcage.

As for Sasuke… he had the most difficulty, which was not much. He actually had to resort to using Ninjutsu to defeat his own opponent, the only girl of the bunch. After a 'Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu'(Fire Release: Mythical fire Phoenix technique), which he laced with shurikens to create a diversion as he launched a 'Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu' (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) that left the unfortunate Sand nin in a sorry state. While she had managed to shield her face from the flames, her arms and rest of her body were burnt badly and thus she had no way to react to the fist that slammed into her face robbing her of consciousness.

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Naruto didn't have any chance to participate in the action, however he perked up as Gaara reported that several enemies were fast approaching the academy. As ordered Shikamaru quickly set in motion a plan to slow down the enemy approach while the students would make their escape via the tunnels that led towards the Hokage monument. This plan was never to come however as the main force that was supposed to deal with the academy made its appearance… along with a few nasty additions that had apparently followed the running Genin.

For several moments both sides surveyed each other across the academy yard. The twenty-one Suna Genin and the four Chuunin who were supposed to deal with the students were reinforced by nine uninvited Sound nin whose rank was undetermined but, judging by their aura of competence were at least Chuunin. The worst surprise however came in the form of a Sand nin who was identified by Gaara and his siblings as a Jounin.

Shikamaru began to sweat… the odds were sufficiently against them, even with the exceptional talent the Leaf nins possessed. He really had hoped to fight a delaying battle against the opposing forces, retreat to the tunnel and block it off… whether by Gaara's sand or by explosive tags and then hightail it to the main shelters that were designed to be defended against invaders. Now he had a catastrophe on his hands. He had fifteen Genins, himself included… and neither Shino nor Kankuro had really recovered from their fight at the arena and Choji had just been released from the hospital because he had eaten too much.

He did the only thing possible, aside from thinking how troublesome this all was and how he was probably going to die, and began to yell orders. "Tenten and Sand-girl attack anything you can, Naruto... you are the clone support and the rest of you help each other out anyway you can." He then performed the 'Kagemane no Jutsu' (Shadow Bind technique) trapping the foremost six Genins and two of the Chuunins with it and yelling. "Someone nail those in the shadow and be quick about it!"

Naruto and Lee both sprang forward, the former flashing through seals to create a number of Kage Bunshins that dispersed quickly to the battlefield. When the pair reached their target it took only a moment to dispatch the eight targets, what with Lee plowing through the six Genins like they weren't even there.

His blonde partner took it upon himself to disable the two Sound nins that were also caught in the shadow… unfortunately the sudden removal of the Genins from his jutsu disrupted Shikamaru's control over the shadow bind. Fortunately Naruto was already upon them and bashed the other into unconsciousness with a combination of swift hits that landed on the nins head and a final blow that cleanly broke his collarbone to make sure he stayed down.

The other Sound nin turned to form up a defence against the blonde demon carrier only to notice that his opponent was nowhere in sight. He quickly glanced upwards to make sure the boy wasn't about to attack from above, only to feel someone grab his ankles from below. Naruto had performed the 'Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu' (Earth Release: Inner Decapitation Technique) for the second time that day and it had worked just as well. The Chuunin didn't even have time to lament his fate when a hard fist slammed into his face three times in rapid succession, breaking his nose and effectively putting him to sleep.

Jumping away from the nins he met up with Lee who gave an enthusiastic 'thumbs-up' and bounced to engage yet another opponent. Naruto quickly created some two dozen clones that he sent to help whoever needed their help, then pulled out six shurikens and launched them at a Sound nin who was doing his best to dodge Tenten's barrage of throwing weapons. With several handseals and whisper of 'Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' the six shuriken became a some six dozen shurikens that made the Oto nin focus his attention on Naruto instead of Tenten… a big mistake when you have assortment of pointy and sharp weapons flying towards you. Naruto winced slightly at the sight of the opposing nin being turned into a human pincushion but shrugged it aside, this was war after all.

All thoughts concerning war, the possibility of killing someone and whatnot where brushed away though when he was jumped by two Suna nins, a Genin and a Chuunin. Naruto activated his Shinkugan, fell into a defensive stance and began to analyze their tactics in order to try and find an opening.

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Meanwhile Gaara had managed to ensnare and crush one Chuunin with his sand initially and was now chasing a Genin who was frantically trying to avoid the sand that was seeking to embrace him in a grip of death. He however, tripped on one of his team mates causing them both to fall down… Gaara not wanting to look the gift horse in its mouth simply mouthed 'Sabaku Kyu' (Desert Coffin) enveloping both of the unlucky Sand nins with his sand and then with little emotion closed his fist while saying 'Sabaku Soso' (Desert Funeral) causing the sand to crush those within it. Needles to say the sight of the feared container for Ichibi no Shukaku fighting alongside the Leaf nins and using his demonic sand to crush their numbers had a devastating effect on the morale of the Suna forces.

At the same time Kiba and Akamaru, who had turned into a 'Jyuujin Bunshin' (Beast Human Clone) where using the 'Gatsuuga' (Double Piercing Fang) to harass one of the Sound nins who had very little time to act against the blindingly fast half-man-beasts that were flying towards him. He did manage to use some weird jutsu to create a sound pulse that repelled the approaching Kiba and knocked him a into an unconscious heap, only to find that he had no time to dodge Akamaru who had been following in Kiba's shadow. The furious dog-turned-man all but tore the unfortunate nin into pieces for hurting his master… And after a few gory moments let the remains to slump on the ground and ran to check on his master… not before scraping some dirt over the body with a disdainful flick of foot and a small growl.

Temari was having the time of her life. She targeted, or was being targeted, by a particular duo of Genins she never liked, the bastards had tried to grope her once some time back and she had beaten them there and then. Now they were leering at her, promising that they'd be 'gentle' and all that… she smirked and whipped out her battle fan and swung it with practiced ease performing 'Kamaitachi no Jutsu' (Cutting Whirlwind Technique) without delay. The other Genin managed to dodge the giant gust of wind but the screams of pain coming from the other were sweet music to Temari's ears. _-Be gentle with that you creep…-_

Her grin didn't diminish when the other offending Genin charged her with a kunai held ready to strike… While she wasn't quite as practiced with Taijutsu as she was with her fan there were several nasty tricks with that said fan that she'd picked up during her years. With practiced motion the wind user dodged the blow aimed for her shoulder and used her fan to sweep the attacker from his feet and then, with speed that would make even Lee jealous, she flipped the fan over and drove its butt end into her enemy's groin… hard. If the Suna Genin had not passed out from the pain he would have when Temari kicked him equally hard on the head.

Shino meanwhile was having his hand full in support role, he hadn't quite recovered from the poisoning he got while fighting Kankuro in the exams and as such dared not to engage any enemies directly. Instead he stayed near Kankuro and Choji who weren't in their top form either, Kankuro because of chakra exhaustion and due to having his puppet damaged and Choji because he was still suffering from the effects of previous gluttony.

This did not stop Shino from ordering his bugs around though, especially in a familiar environment such as the academy front yard. Unbeknownst to the enemy, and most of the Leaf nins as well, small swarms of Kikai bugs were marching all around the battle field attaching themselves to the enemy nins, slowly draining them from chakra. One of the enemy nin had positioned himself near a tree Shino was very familiar with, a bad choice on his part since the tree's roots held a hive of ants that Shino and his bugs were in friendly terms with.

The Suna nin noticed that it was very hard to focus on concentrating on jutsus when you are suddenly crawling with ants. To his horror he also noticed that it was not only ants that were crawling on him in numbers as Shino had ordered his Kikai bugs to swarm the said nin, only one who seemed to be in support role of the whole enemy force. In only a matter of moments the Suna nin had fallen from chakra exhaustion and the Kikais moved on to next targets while the ants decided to take their 'payment' in more tangible terms.

Sasuke and Neji were both faring well against their opponents. Sasuke having knocked out an offending Genin with a quick strike to the throat was now battling against a Sound Chuunin who was for some reason reluctant to use any jutsus against him and had engaged him in pure Taijutsu match. The fight was fairly even... while Sasuke had better speed the Oto nin had more experience, experience that didn't help him after Sasuke's eyes turned red and comma marks appeared on them. With the advantage granted by Sharingan Sasuke quickly darted under his opponents guard and rammed a kunai into his throat making him collapse while making wet hacking sounds. He quickly scanned the area to find the Suna Jounin whom he considered to be the only one in this bunch worth fighting… unfortunately the Jounin was quite far on the edge of the battle so Sasuke was forced to engage yet another enemy Chuunin.

As for Neji he was quick to close on two Chuunin, one from Sound and the other from Sand. Both Nins had tried to hit him with jutsus but the other had been too distracted by Tenten's barrage of kunai and shuriken to accomplish anything beyond making a small mound of earth rise in front of him. This left the Sound nin who after flashing several seals blew out a breath and smirked, the chakra laden sound waves would make short work of this weird looking Leaf ninja.

To his dismay Neji easily dodged the ball of sound that was headed towards him and ducked under the Sound nins left arm. Without slowing he slammed his fingers several times into his arm and side and after passing slammed his fingers several times into his back without even turning his head. Behind him the Sound nin collapsed and Neji just smirked at the gawking Sand nin. He then took a weird Taijutsu stance and stated "You are finished… 'Hakke Rokujuyon Sho' (Divination Field, 64 strikes)."

As the last combination of strikes hit the unfortunate Suna nin he was sent flying towards yet another Suna nin who deftly sidestepped the human projectile that sailed past him… straight to an irate Naruto who displayed for the first time his skill with 'Konoha Daisenpu' (Leaf Great Whirlwind) to kick the already beaten Chuunin towards a nearby tree.

Lee on the other hand was having what he thought as fun. He'd been stalked by two Genin and a Chuunin who all seemed to be rather wary of his speed and skill with Taijutsu. After quickly barked orders from the Chuunin the Genins split up while the Chuunin began to pepper the area with shuriken and occasionally something that looked like condensed air that cut gashes to the ground where it hit. The green-clad Genin was jumping around avoiding the projectiles with little difficulty until the two Genins pounced on him with an obvious intent of stabbing him with their kunai.

They failed though, when Lee seemed to vanish from between them and suddenly appeared behind them only to grab their heads and slam them together with an audible crack. Lee didn't stop there but instead used their bodies to launch himself towards the remaining Chuunin, with unexpected speed he closed the distance between them and threw a combination of sluggish kicks and punches towards the Chuunin only to vanish from his sight. He was then kicked into the air by Lee who whispered 'Konoha Senpu' (Konoha Whirlwind)…

Much to his dismay Lee was not done yet as he appeared beneath the Chuunin and whispered 'Kage Buyo' (Shadow of the Dancing Leaf) into his ear. Not wanting to waste energy with 'Omote Renge' (Initial Lotus) Lee opted to deal with his opponent in a more basic way. He wrapped one arm around the Chuunins neck and slammed his fist multiple times into the man's back, aiming mostly at kidneys and base of his ribs. When the gurgles of pain and the cracking sound from his ribs indicated that he might have had enough Lee deftly switched their positions so that the Chuunin cushioned their rather hard landing. The enemy nin spat a good deal of blood and then laid still…

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On the far edge of the battle Hinata, Sakura and Ino were fighting their own fights. The girls had been targeted by two Oto nins and were now fighting quite hard against them. The Oto nins didn't even bother to hold back their contempt and were expecting an easy victory…

One of them charged against Hinata without even using jutsus, confident that he could beat the timid looking little girl into a pulp without any problem… he was wrong. Hinata, despite being mortally afraid, was a member of Konoha's most prominent clan and thus had been trained since childhood in Taijutsu and now when push came to shove the lessons that were drilled into her spine surfaced, not to mention that being exposed to the epitome of confidence named Uzumaki Naruto had boosted her own belief in her skills. With her Byakugan activated she met the attacking nin head on and began to fight with the same determination she had shown during the Chuunin exams when she faced Neji.

Sakura and Ino were about to execute the same plan they had with their previous opponent, namely Sakura distracting the enemy while Ino would use 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' (Mind Body Switch Technique) to take control of the enemy so that Sakura could pummel him into oblivion. They never got to that though, as the Chuunin suddenly grabbed his groin while releasing a rather unmanly and high pitched scream. Sakura blinked but took the opportunity that presented itself and planted her fist into the man's face with power that left the poor individual in a state of blissful unconsciousness.

As he buckled over a ball of reddish fur hurried from between his legs and started to stalk towards her next victim. Sakura and Ino only exchanged silent glances and raised their eyebrows… Akai-chan apparently had a mean streak into her when it came to fighting.

Akai had indeed been circling the battle looking for unsuspecting victims as Naruto had ordered her to stay away from danger, not from the battle. She was now stalking the man fighting Hinata but unfortunately her 'aid' was not required as Hinata managed, while blocking, to hit several tenketsu on her opponents arm. As the arm went limp she quickly used it as cover to step under the man's guard and slam her hand into the man's neck causing a temporary disruption in the blood flow to brain which caused him to black out. A swift kick on the head ensured that he was down for the count…

Their celebrations for personal victories were cut short however when a tall woman wearing a Suna Hitai-ate stepped towards them with practiced ease. She smirked at the Genins and said in an almost playful tone. "Little little Genins… So full of yourself, though I must admit your performance was quite a stretch above what you would expect from Genins normally." She pointed at Hinata. "Yours especially, though you are a Hyuuga are you not? and judging by the lack of a seal on your forehead from the main house no less. I wonder if I should take you alive… a girl with a bloodline limit as powerful as yours could be an asset for our village."

She grinned wickedly and suddenly seemed to disappear on to appear next to Ino who'd been attempting to use her 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' in an unobtrusive manner. Before the blonde could even blink the Jounin delivered a hard blow to her chest tossing her towards the Academy wall like a rag doll. Without a pause the Suna kunoichi moved right behind Sakura and rammed her elbow into the pink-haired girls head making her crumble to the ground. She then slowly turned towards Hinata and smiled evilly while drawing out a kunai. "Taking you alive would be bothersome so I'll just end it after I get to test the mettle of a Hyuuga and her Jyuken."

Hinata fell back before the vicious onslaught from the obviously more skilled Jounin. Despite the fact that she was able to hold her defences up it was clear that the Jounin was only playing with her, trying to goad her into showing something more advanced. Oh how she wished she knew how to perform the 'Kaiten'… but without it there was really nothing much to do but to hope that some help would arrive soon. Soon her defences slipped slightly and the Suna nin decided that she had been toying with her victim long enough. With deft moves she began to break down Hinata's last defences…

Hinata saw it coming, it was hard not to. She was getting tired quickly and had slipped and now it was time to pay for it. Silently she wished that she would have had the chance to get kissed at least once by her Naruto-kun but judging by the way a certain kunai began its descending arc there would be no such chance. She closed her eyes moments before the kunai struck and then there was a spray of hot blood that drenched her clothing…

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Temari was looking around for an opportunity to use her fan for her benefit when a yell of "Hey you crazy Sand girl… would you turn around already" made her turn around in a rush. Two Suna Genins were there, having somehow snuck up to her undetected… well almost undetected. She noticed that they were picking their noses with one hand and scratching their butts with the other. She blinked in amazement until a loud "Anytime now… sheesh you are so troublesome." shook her from her reverie.

Quickly taking a double take on the Genins and noticed that they were trapped by a shadow that led to an irritated looking Shikamaru. Temari had the dignity to blush before whipping her enormous fan and using it to whisk the hapless pair into the academy wall. She then turned to Shikamaru and yelled "And the name is Temari… TE-MA-RI got it?" Shikamaru just shrugged and mumbled something about troublesome crazy girls and such. She glared at the shadow user but decided to drop the issue for now.

Naruto was starting to get frustrated, why in the hell did he have to pick the one pair out of them all that actually worked together like nothing he'd never seen before. It was infuriating to see how the other would attack and the other would defend the attacker just from beyond the range of his retaliation. Not to mention that they were both quite skilled as well. He considered forming few clones to aid but decided against it for the favour of conserving chakra, he'd just hold against them until someone would have the time to pick off the other one so he could take down the other.

He pondered about his clones for a moment and then deftly kicked an incoming Suna nin, who'd been launched into his direction by Neji, towards a tree. He grinned slightly and focused on his clones, they weren't involved in the main battle but were instead acting as a distraction for several enemy shinobi who'd been attracted to the noise of their little defensive battle. He was about to launch yet another series of probing Taijutsu attacks towards his opponents when a loud yap reached his ears.

Visibly narrowing his eyes Naruto watched as the Sand Jounin effectively took out Ino and Sakura… and then attacked Hinata. Within seconds he came to a conclusion that Hinata would die lest he do something and quick, a conclusion that was accentuated by Kyuubi's **"Hurry Kit or she'll die!" **A cold lump seemed to settle into the pit of his stomach as time slowed for Naruto, he was about to lose the only person who cared for him, who had always truly cared for him… He would not let it happen. Through gritted teeth he whispered "Give it all to me you damn furball… now!" and reached through the seal to the well of chakra that was Kyuubi's… deeper than he had ever consciously reached.

The Sand duo that had been fighting against him stopped at the odd whisper. Then to their amazement Naruto seemed to change somehow… Kyuubi's demonic chakra burst through the seal like water through a broken dam, wrapping Naruto with its crimson energy. They watched in horror as the Genin who they had been fighting begun to manifest intimidating claws and fangs and to top it all he now had three blazing appendages that swayed behind him like tails.¨

Naruto roared, a sound that completely stilled the entire battle. . His vision seemed to sharpen with almost painful clarity, the world seemed to slow down around him as the power engulfed him… Not since his battle with Haku had he felt such tremendous power, power that pulsed though the seal along with the bloodlust that came with it, the killer intent directed towards those who would try to harm his mate.

He took off on all fours running towards his opponents who were rooted in place by sheer malice that was pouring from the boy in waves. A clawed hand lashed forward, catching the Sand Genin at his neck. Without even slowing down Naruto passed the nearly decapitated corpse that was still standing and slashed out again, this time catching the Chuunin in a horizontal swipe that left the man clutching his stomach in a vain attempt to hold his intestines inside. Showing no signs of slowing he run past the startled Sasuke but not past his unfortunate opponent who didn't have time to jump clear of the path of this embodiment of destruction.

He stood in the demon's way… he was an obstacle… obstacles are to be removed. Naruto slowed down some and brought his hands down in a cross shape tearing the Chuunins torso almost into four pieces. The power of the slashes was enough to send the corpse flying backwards in a massive spray of blood and gore. Without wasting any time he took off once again at full speed towards his mate. And he saw the kunai begin it's decent towards her… a primal growl escaped his lips as he hastened his steps.

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Hinata wondered at the absence of pain, she was drenched in her own blood but there was no pain. Oddly there was also loud growling, perhaps she was dead and had been sent to hell. Carefully cracking open one eye she could only stare at the sight that greeted her. There was the Jounin who had attacked her, with her hand still holding the kunai… only there was a crimson red appendage wrapped around the hand and another wrapped around the Jounin's throat. More disturbing was the fact that there was a clawed hand emerging from the right side of her chest.

She opened both eyes and carefully peered around the Jounin to see what had causing the growling noises. Her breath hitched as she noticed the source. _-Na…Naruto-kun… but no that's… that's… not…-_ As she watched the growling seemed to subside and the crimson tails began to fade as the being before her blinked several times. "Hinata-chan… are you, are you alright?"

She watched as the tails vanished completely as the demonic chakra receded back into the seal. Naruto blinked several more times and then seemed to realize that his hand was in someone's body. With a quick look of disgust he pulled his arm free letting the Jounin's corpse slump unceremoniously to the ground.

Quickly turning around he surveyed the battlefield and the carnage his rampage had wrought. Naturally as timing would have it the Chuunin he had efficiently disembowelled chose this time to collapse to his knees and then face first to the ground. Everyone was staring at him… then, as one the four Suna Genin who were still standing at the time threw their kunais, shuriken and other assorted weapons to the ground and loudly declared that they would surrender. They hadn't wanted to mess with Gaara to begin with… even less with this… whatever it was they had just seen.

Naruto on the other hand just continued surveying the carnage, he could remember the red haze that had seemed to surround him. He looked down on his clothes only to notice that they were covered in blood, as were both of his hands, his right hand being soaked from fingertips to the elbow. And then he could hear the whispers of the villagers from his past… _"Monster…" "Demon…"_ He began to shake and then fell to his knees, unknowingly repeating those same whispers aloud.

At first he didn't even register the small hands that encircled him from behind, nor did he hear the soothing voice that whispered calming words to him. He simply kept rocking back and forth until finally he began to calm down some and lean back towards the warmth that was behind him.

Hinata smiled slightly as she felt the blonde Jinchuuriki calming down under her hug. She could very well guess what the boy felt right now. _-All those years of being called a monster or a demon… But Naruto-kun isn't a monster and whatever happened there… he did it somehow to save me. Now I must show him that he's not a monster. I just wish he'd calm down so that we could talk about what happened.-_

She now felt that Naruto had calmed down some and whispered a final. "Shhh Naruto-kun… you are not a monster but a Leaf shinobi who had to kill to save a fellow shinobi." She felt him stiffen slightly and continued. "We have to get out of here… but remember that you are not a, a monster or anything like that. We can talk more later." She then felt the object of her affections gently give her hand a squeeze and nod slightly… it would have been a perfect moment had a certain jealous dogboy decided to interfere at this point.

Kiba had been knocked silly when he ran full speed into that weird jutsu that the Sound nin had used. He had been hovering on the edge of consciousness until he felt a massive burst of chakra that flared nearby, determined to try and regain his bearings he managed to get up just in time to see Naruto pull his arm from the body a Suna Jounin and subsequently to turn around and collapse only a moment later. He looked over at the blonde. _-Sheesh a little blood and he falls to bits… how in the name of seven hells did I lose to him?-_

He then noticed that his girl was there comforting the loser who obviously wasn't cut out to be a ninja. His jealousy spiked and he made his wobbly line towards the pair, ignoring the frantic whimpers from Akamaru who'd been more than alert during Naruto's little performance. He stopped several steps away from the pair and looked downwards. "Hey Hinata, why don't you leave that loser right there… I mean come on some shinobi he is, can't even hack with a little blood. Why you should just forge…"

He didn't get any further when he was face to face with Hinata, only this Hinata wasn't smiling. Instead the veins leading to her eyes bulged noticeably as her Byakugan activated on its own. With an ear piercing scream of "Don't you dare to say that about my Naruto-kun" her open palm came in a wide arc to make contact with Kiba's cheek. Now normally a slap stings some but a Jyuuken style slap didn't only sting. Hinata's chakra enforced hand caused the jealous boy fall on the flat of his back and stare in daze at Hinata who now towered over him. "Don't you dare to say that Naruto-kun is a loser… You don't know a single thing about him, you only ever saw him as the dead last and nothing more. Well he's not, he's a kind person who would do anything to protect those precious to him!"

She was about to continue stomping her foot and yelling at Kiba when Naruto interrupted by placing his hand on her shoulder "Come on Hinata-chan, we have to get moving… there are additional enemies coming…" The Hyuuga girl visibly shuddered as she sought to calm herself, actually it wasn't all that hard as she suddenly came aware that she had yelled out loud 'my Naruto-kun' She gasped and then turned beet red while fighting off a wave of dizziness. Finally she nodded meekly and stuttered out "Hai… Naruto-kun."

Hinata then rushed over to check Sakura and Ino who were both still down. Ino had a dislocated shoulder and several cracked ribs while Sakura had a badly sprained, possibly even fractured neck. "Naruto-kun… we need a stretched for Sakura-san, possibly for Ino-san as well." This caused the blonde to scratch his head, where would they get any stretchers for now… He was answered when sand began to billow under the downed girls setting both on flat beds made from sand. Sakura was actually enveloped with sand from head to toe leaving only her face visible.

Naruto quickly raised an eyebrow towards Gaara who simply answered. "If her neck is damaged it's best to make sure her head won't move." Without elaborating any further the former Suna nin began to move towards Shikamaru who was ordering people into the tunnels.

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Naruto heard the explosive tags go off and the following deep rumble from the collapsing tunnel. He was still troubled by the fact that he had lost control there, somehow letting the demon influence his thoughts. **"You didn't kit, not really…"** Naruto became more attentive at this. **"What I think happened was the same thing that happened in Wave country, you used more of my chakra than your body could handle. You see kit, my chakra in comparison to yours is almost infinite. You could multiply the chakra you used today by a hundred… thousand even and it still would be only a drop in the bucket."**

While Naruto was mulling over this and trying to decide whether or not the fox was just bragging Kyuubi continued. **"So basically, there is a physical limit to the amount of my chakra you can use without losing control… and when you did the chakra began to overwhelm your senses and allowed a more 'demonic' being emerge."** Naruto flinched visibly at this only suddenly feel someone grab his hand.

Hinata was grateful for the darkness of the tunnel, the only illumination being dim lights placed low on the floor every ten or so meters. When she felt more than saw Naruto flinch she decided to be bold and grabbed his hand, only to blush badly when Naruto turned to her and smiled slightly while whispering. "Thank Hinata-chan… just facing my inner demons here." She blushed even more when the blonde gave a small squeeze to her hand and began to lead her once more towards the distant exit.

Kyuubi chuckled at the antics of her container before continuing her narrative. **"Basically what you… or rather we felt was a need to protect a mate…"** Kyuubi grinned evilly as she heard Naruto sputter out in embarrassment. **"…and did whatever it was necessary to protect her. What you really need to ask yourself is: Would you have killed those ninja to save Hinata-chan? And if the answer is yes, then why feel sorry about it. You are a ninja after all so killing is part of the job description."**

Naruto tried to grumble some denial but the fact of the matter was that, yes he would have killed to save Hinata. Instead of trying to chop Kyuubi's logic he demanded to know more why he had reacted the way he had to Kyuubi's chakra. The demon considered the question for a while before answering. **"Well as you undoubtedly… wait as you might know, chakra is composed of spiritual and physical energy yes? Seeing as how I have no physical body you would need a medium in order to utilize my chakra, namely your own body."**

Naruto mentally nodded at this. **"So basically every time you pull on my chakra it also drains to an extent your body. The fact is that even with your great stamina, today has been taxing so when you pulled out even more of my chakra, which is demonic to its very essence, you started to lose control. Not to mention the fact that you were clearly agitated which seems to weaken the seal…"**

Again Naruto nodded then questioned Kyuubi. "So basically, to increase my tolerance to your chakra, and to keep this from happening again I should what… train myself more?" Kyuubi nodded in his mind. **"That and I think you should discuss this with that old pervert that seems to have taken liking in you. Also it might help to practice more with my chakra only… possibly even driving your self to the edge on purpose to better gain control over the 'impulses'. This might be beneficial because there is no knowing when you might have to draw even deeper into my power… also there's another thing we might do but that's not for now."**

The blonde brightened visibly at the prospect of gaining control over this newly seen more feral side of himself. He even tried to put his hands behind his back to stretch languidly only to notice that his other hand was still holding Hinata's. His resident demon chose this moment to lighten the mood and poke some fun of her container. **"Oh yeah… that issue you have been mulling about the few past weeks, I think you answered it yourself back there. So why don't you admit it to you 'mate'"** She roared in laughter as the embarrassed Naruto yelled out loud "Shut up you bastard!"

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Neji was curious. When he, Lee and Tenten had been placing the explosive tags on their pre-designated places in preparation to collapse the tunnel Tenten had wondered out loud what had actually happened with Naruto. This didn't make him curious though, he had seen it better with the Byakugan than the others had with their naked eye. The chakra that had poured out from the seal on his stomach had formed the shape of a large fox… a large nine-tailed fox to be exact.

Elsewhere in the tunnel a forlorn Kiba trudged after Akamaru who was pointedly ignoring his master. Kiba didn't really have a good day… first Naruto had hugged Hinata and worse yet, she'd hugged him back. Then Kiba had been hit by that weird jutsu and Naruto had, during his brief unconsciousness, apparently defeated… no killed a Genin, two Chuunin and a Jounin of all things to save Hinata. If that wasn't bad enough Hinata had yelled at him for being just an ass and after that he'd gotten a serious lecture from Shino and several death glares from Gaara. And now even Akamaru was ignoring him.

He hung his head and thought up ways to make this up to Hinata and show her that he was really the top dog in the village… plans that seemed to be always thwarted by the memory of Shino's harsh words. "Get it through your skull that she is, and has always been, fully committed to Uzumaki Naruto!" He looked towards Hinata's back and felt a stab of pain and jealousy when he saw her reach up and grab Naruto's hand. Hanging his head again he began to make more plans… this time to ease the pain. _-Hmm that blonde Suna girl is kinda cute, outgoing too… maybe I should ask her out.-_

His thoughts of gaining Hinata back and/or new conquests of love and glory were cut short though when the Genins finally reached their destination. The shelters built beneath the Hokage monument and the place where they were supposed to escort the academy students. None of the Genins were prepared for what they found there though. Four academy teachers, among them Iruka, all in full battle gear, a team of med nins and two members of ANBU.

The ANBU were quick to take custody of the enemy prisoners, wounded or otherwise and depart with them to where ever ANBU took prisoners. The med nins were equally quick to scurry away with Ino and Sakura to give them treatment for their injuries… Iruka was about to push Naruto with them until a sheepish grin and subdued statement of "Ano Iruka-sensei… it's not my blood." stopped him dead on his tracks.

He gave the boy once over and then motioned everyone to get into the shelter. Once inside he pulled over Gaara, Shino, Shikamaru and Naruto for a report and debriefing. Iruka sent them to clean themselves up and to rest after Shikamaru quickly summarized the events and Naruto, with a few words, explained what had happened to him promising a full report at a better time.

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Naruto was feeling somewhat better, having washed most of the blood off his skin. His clothes however were all but soaked in blood and there was only so much you could do without a washing machine. He shrugged, the pants were clean enough after a little washing but no way was he going to wear his vest… the smell of blood was still clinging to it making his nose twitch.

He then observed his undershirt, it was clean enough to wear but uncomfortably wet and he didn't feel like drying it off with fox fire after the recent escapade. Rather he wear a wet shirt or go without one than try and do anything related to his unique 'heritance' for the moment… a notion that was seconded by his resident. After debating silently between a 'wet shirt' and 'no shirt' he decided to go with the 'no shirt' option for the time being.

As he exited the shower stall he noticed that he was no longer alone in the washing room. Hinata and Tenten had both come to freshen up, or in Hinata's case to get rid of the excess blood splattered on her. Tenten was forced to stifle a gasp when she saw Naruto and was able only to form one coherent thought -_Hunky-_.

Hinata just blushed slightly at the sight. The blonde kitsune container seemed to get better looking every time she saw him in scant clothing… not to mention those droplets of water that were all over his torso. She didn't have time to dwell on this as a stifled gasp came from behind her, her Byakugan activated and she stared through the back of her skull to see the other girl staring at her Naruto-kun. Slowly and deliberately she turned around, radiating controlled killer intent and then narrowed her eyes at Tenten in a manner that clearly conveyed the message. "MINE!"

Tenten was taken aback at Hinata's reaction. _-This is Neji's weak cousin… she's just as scary, maybe even more so, as Neji is when he's angry. Note to self: no more staring at her boyfriend.-_

Unknown to the girls in the room Naruto, who was pressed against the wall and was inching his way towards the door, was echoing Tenten's thoughts. _-Man. I though Sakura-chan and Ino were scary but Hinata-chan… I better make sure I never piss her off royally or I might not survive.-_

Just as he was about to make his escape from the room he was bumped into by yet another person who happened to be Neji. Naruto cursed, he really didn't want to deal with Neji at the moment… not with tensions already running high among the Genins. He tried to slip past the Hyuuga genius only to be stopped by his hand. Naruto frowned and asked "What do you want Neji?" with only a barely polite tone.

Neji wasn't fazed though. He let go of Naruto's arm and calmly walked towards the faucets while saying. "What happened today, in the match and later at the academy?" Naruto just gaped at the boy, who was now washing his hands and face as if he hadn't even asked a question.

Before the Jinchuuriki had a chance to answer Tenten jumped in the conversation with additional questions. "Yeah, how did you manage to stop Neji from closing your tenketsu and how did you grow those three crimson tails."

Naruto gaped at the girl. "Three?" The question was directed more towards a certain fox demon than the curious girl in front of him, however only astonished silence was 'heard' from within Naruto's mind as Kyuubi, for once in her long life, was at the loss of words.

Tenten was nodding enthusiastically in response but stopped when Neji turned around and said. "I closed those tenketsu… and he opened them." He paid no heed to the mutters of 'Impossible' coming from his team mate. "A seal formed on his stomach and chakra leaked out… forming a head of a fox that loomed over his head and opening his tenketsu." He tilted his head slightly. "Then at the academy chakra began to pour out from that same seal… forming itself into the shape of a giant fox that surrounded Naruto."

Neji then locked his pale eyes with Naruto's blue ones. "Only the fox didn't have three tails… it had nine." This caused Tenten to gasp and take a step back and Naruto to smile grimly.

Without breaking eye contact Naruto began to gather some chakra and felt the familiar tinge of the seal becoming visible. "You have a seal on your forehead. I have one in my stomach… the Yondaime's 'Hakke no Fuin Shiki' (Eight Trigrams Sealing Style) used by him, after defeating the Kyuubi with 'Shiki Fuin' (Dead Demon Consuming Seal), to seal the demon within a newborn baby… namely me."

Only sign that Neji was shocked by the bluntness of Naruto's words was a slight widening of his eyes. "So this seal is the prison for Kyuubi then… I see that" He was interrupted by Naruto who still hadn't broken eye contact. "No… the seal is the gate. I am the prison and the jailor…" Again Neji's eyes widened followed by a slight nod. Without another word he walked past Naruto and stopped at the door. "I apologize then."

The blonde turned around and faced Neji's back. "Yeah well, just remove that stick you have stuck up in your ass and try less like a stuck up prick you are and we'll call it even."

The Hyuuga genius turned his head slightly and smirked at the boy. "I'm only saying that I was wrong, you do understand what it's like to bear a burden you can never be rid of." With a slight nod and almost a smile he left the room leaving Naruto to recover from his massive face fault.

After he recovered he turned to face the girls and the shocked Tenten in particular. "You know I won't bite and all that… anyway if you want to hear the whole story ask Lee. Just tell him that I said it's okay to tell it or whatever." With that he turned around, grumbling something about stuck up geniuses and how they should all be beaten up on a regular basis to make them more human, and left the two girls behind.

--------

When Naruto came out from the washing room he was noticed by Temari, who immediately took notice of his shirtless form. Naruto didn't notice the girl ogling him though, he was busy glaring at Sasuke who had in turn been glaring at him. Sasuke was indeed furious, the dobe had somehow gained more power in a months time than he had. First he showed off at the finals by using one of the moves that were clearly reserved for his and Kakashi's use… then he'd somehow unleashed massive amount of chakra to defeat that Jounin.

Sasuke glared at the blonde, it was due time for him to squeeze out the secrets from this 'dead last'. The power he'd used to kill that Jounin, it was something that he clearly didn't deserve… something that would better serve those who knew how to use such power for better purposes like killing one's brother for instance. With a final glare that was ignored by Naruto, who was now talking with Shikamaru, Sasuke wowed to himself that he would extract the secret of that power from Naruto and make it his. Feeling confident that he would succeed he went back to his brooding.

Naruto decided that it was better ignore Sasuke-teme than to pick a fight since he really didn't want to deal with another 'Rookie-of-the-year-so-I-am-better-than-everyone-else' case. Instead he just walked over to Shikamaru to ask for any updates on orders and to get the latest news, if any, from the battle. There were no new news and the orders were the same, rest and be ready to defend the shelters if need be.

He was distracted by movement in his peripheral vision and turned to see what it was about only to see Hinata, not an uncommon sight to him, without her baggy grey jacket, which certainly was uncommon. Naruto blinked while feeling his gaze draw lower than it usually did, then... to make a comparison lock onto Tenten who had exited at the same time and then move on towards Temari, back to Tenten and finally back to Hinata. There was only one thing going through his mind. _-I seriously need to talk her about ditching that jacket… I mean sheesh, she's got umm… boobs.-_ Kyuubi cackled evilly at this. **"My how very eloquent of you…"**

Naruto wasn't the only one thinking along the same lines, in fact most of the males present had a similar reaction. Kankuro even smudged his makeup when he wiped off an errant drop of sweat. Temari was quick to echo Tenten's thoughts from only moments before when she first saw Hinata take of her jacket _-Damn I'm older than she is… so how dare she have bigger…-_

Snapping himself out of hentai thoughts Naruto stomped towards a small outcropping of rock to which he hung his shirt to dry. Cursing Ero-Sennin for rubbing onto him he then slumped against the wall while trying to yell at the obnoxious fox to shut the hell up about Hinata's umm… assets. He was shaken from this interesting conversation by a small "Ano…" that came from the afore mentioned girl. Getting a closer look on her didn't help and the boy was forced to grab his nose to prevent bleeding… thankfully he had boosted healing ability so the bleeding abated in only moments.

Trying to force down his blushing he motioned Hinata to sit down while ignoring the Kyuubi and a mental image of 'Chibi-Jiraiya' who was waving a 'GO FOR IT!' banner while grinning madly. Deciding to lock his eyes to a safe target he concentrated on Hinata's face… a scrutiny that brought waves of blushing and nervous stuttering from the girl, she wasn't after all used to having Naruto to blatantly stare at her face like that. "Ano… Naruto-kun… is there something wrong with my face?"

Kyuubi decided to rescue her host. **"Hey kit, I'll get us out of this… just repeat after me."** Naruto quickly debated about it but decided to take the offer, it wasn't as if the fox could get him into any deeper trouble anyway. **"There's nothing wrong with your face Hinata-chan." **Naruto repeated this. **"It's just that I'm a little tired right now…"** and this **"So I'll feast my eyes on your magnificent form after I'm better rested"** Without thinking Naruto began "So I'll feast my eyes on your magnificent form aft… WHAT! SHUT UP!"

Hinata watched in confusion as Naruto began to bang his head against the floor while mumbling "Baka me, Baka fox, Baka me…" The sight was so funny that despite all that had happened during the day she giggled causing the said boy stop his head bashing. He scratched his head and explained sheepishly. "Uhh I'm really tired and all and the idiot furball is poking fun of me."

Hinata smiled again and blushed while taking a mental breath of preparation. "Ano Naruto-kun… if you are feeling tired would you like to… I mean for me … I could give you a massage…" Now she was torn between patting herself on the back for managing to say something like that and berating herself for sounding so forward. _-I hope Naruto-kun doesn't think I'm some floozy…-_ She visibly relaxed when Naruto seemed to brighten and nodded happily.

Only a few moments later they were both in a state of bliss. Naruto was leaning into the fingers that were digging into his shoulders and back releasing tension that had been building for the last few days, weeks even. He let out a small groan as the magic fingers broke a particular knot that had formed in his back. Despite the soldier pill he had ingested earlier the massage seemed to be coaxing him into a state of deeper relaxation…

Hinata on the other hand was relishing at the chance to grope… err massage Naruto, something that she'd learn to enjoy when she'd patched Naruto up after his dodging practice. Only this was so much better than simply gliding your hands over his body and only 'accidentally' brushing against his skin. She was surprised though when the boy suddenly went limp and fell backwards into her lap… Naruto let out a soft snore and snuggled deeper against the furiously blushing girl.

That was the exact position where Umino Iruka found the pair few hours later. Hinata, who had initially been determined to stay awake, had succumbed to sleep as well. Iruka smiled at the cutest thing he had seen… Hinata had her arms wrapped around Naruto, who was snoring softly against her shoulder while the girl was resting her head against Naruto's blonde hair. Grinning wickedly their former teacher motioned Akai-chan to stay quiet and retreated stealthily, only to return a moment later holding a camera.

The flash and click from the camera caused the two stir slightly, a second flash and click transferred them to a half awake state in which Naruto snuggled deeper against Hinata burying his face into her… Iruka's eyes bugged out and he quickly began to flash more pictures wearing a mischievous grin. _-Now I can blackmail him into doing whatever I want… I have to make sure these never reach Hiash-samai though or Naruto's life is forfeit.-_

The annoying flashing and clicking sound was prodding Naruto awake, he groaned and tried to burrow deeper into his bed… then the bed sighed in contentment making him freeze. He cracked an eye open and saw what he was snuggling against and to make matters worse Hinata chose this particular time to wake up as well. She stared downwards at blue eyes that were staring at her… they both blinked at the same time, then blinked again… then in motion faster than the eye could track Naruto seemed to vanish only to reappear several meters from the girl, blushing with a shade of crimson clearly resembling Kyuubi's chakra.

Both simultaneously thought _-Thank the Kami no one saw that one…-_ only to nearly suffer a cardiac arrest when Iruka cleared his throat. The clearly amused Chuunin looked at them with a smile and said. "As sorry as I am to interrupt your well deserved… rest. I thought that you might like to know that there's dinner to be had." With a smirk and a wave he left the two alone to invent new and intriguing facial colours.

--------

Naruto stopped like he'd run into a wall when he reached what was set aside as the Genins mess area, he then pointed his finger at the cook and began to stutter. Hinata frowned, worried that something was wrong until she was almost knocked to her knees by Naruto's yell of "RAMEN! ICHIRAKU'S RAMEN!" Everyone sweat dropped at the blonde's antics except the old man Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame who knew very well Naruto's passion for their products.

While waiting impatiently in the line Naruto listened as the old man explained that they had taken refuge on the lower levels of the same shelter and that he had been spotted by Iruka who had asked them to contribute to the defence by coming up here to cook for their best customer and few others. Ayame snickered at this… Naruto might have a passion for eating ramen but her old man had an equal passion for cooking the stuff. She just shook her head ruefully as she watched the blonde to practically jump from leg to leg while waiting for his turn.

Naruto was eyeing the shortening line impatiently, he wanted his ramen… then finally it was his turn but the mood was rather abruptly broken by an old woman who was helping to serve the ramen. She, after glaring at the boy while handing him the bowl, asked in a nasty tone. "Why didn't you do all of us a favour and die in the battle you monster?"

Silence that followed the words was palpable until it was broken by a clattering of a bowl that fell from Naruto's fingers. The blonde looked stricken and then whirled about and rushed out from the room. There was a loud pop as the cork on Gaara's gourd was blown away and sand began to rush out from it… The old woman didn't notice this though as she wore a satisfied smile when she saw Iruka forcibly restrain Hinata to prevent the now seriously pissed little girl from punishing her.

Her smile waned slightly when she was suddenly pushed away from the food by a furious Ayame and told in a stern voice that her services were no longer needed. It vanished completely when Iruka wearing a sombre expression stated that she was now under arrest. The old woman, with a devious expression, argued that she hadn't broken the Sandaime's law to which Iruka replied in a honeyed voice. "No… you didn't. You only wished, before witnesses even, a Konoha Shinobi dead... that alone is worth punishment. However I would point out that we are currently in war and under martial law, which means you just committed treason…"

Naruto was huddled at the exact same place where he'd been sleeping only minutes before, mumbling to himself and trying to hold back tears that threatened to spill. He was interrupted by a bowl of ramen that gently placed in front of him by none other than the old man who'd cooked it. The old man pushed the ramen towards the boy and said in a gruff tone "Now you pay no heed to that old bitch… she doesn't know what she's talking about."

The foxboy was taken aback by the term, he'd never heard the old man use language like that before, but simply shook his head. "She thinks she does… do you know why she said that?" He saw the ramen chef nod and say "But…" at this Naruto interrupted him. "But you can't talk about it because of the law that the Hokage-jiisan made… you know the one that forbids anyone from talking about the Kyuubi and how she was sealed inside a certain boy." He looked at the old man curiously "So why? I mean why don't you think I'm a monster?... most everyone else does."

The old man scratched his chin and pointed at the noodles. "You eat those and I'll tell you." Chuckling ruefully he watched as Naruto reached for the noodles and began to eat them slowly, not inhaling them like he usually did. "See Naruto… first I think people who would consider you as a monster are hypocrites. They proclaim the Yondaime as the greatest hero ever and yet they doubt his ability. Then there's the fact that you have lived in the village for what… fourteen years now and have never hurt anyone, aside from your pranks which only have hurt the pride of some individuals."

Naruto snorted at that. "Anyway there's more to that though. I remember about hmm thirty years back when I was young… Yes, I was young once. I had just started learning to make ramen when this short, blonde, blue eyed and loudmouthed brat came to the shop. He was actually cutting class from the academy to get some ramen, and since Ichriraku's is the best place for ramen in Konoha he soon became a regular, oh and did I mention he was loud?. See he came to us for many years, after he graduated and became a Genin, then Chuunin and so on. He was a regular until he died actually."

At this Naruto was in rapt attention. "He was really something, always cheery and going on about how he was going to do this and that… After he died it seemed that Ichiraku's somehow slowed down... the cheery atmosphere was gone, until about seven years afterwards when a certain other loudmouth baka stepped through our door." He sighed. "We actually lost some customers first you know, what with the 'demon' eating at our place. But it was worth it because the cheery mood seemed to return… since we once again had a blonde moron going on about how he was going to be the Hokage and protect us and all that."

The old man poked Naruto's forehead "Oh and did I mention that you eat more ramen in any given day than half of my other regulars combined eat in a week." This was said with a smile that told the boy that he really didn't mean it that way. "What happened today anyway? I heard you won the finals and all so why'd you get so down from one ignorant idiot? You usually don't let that get to you."

Naruto hung his head again before muttering. "It's just that I… had to use 'her' chakra to protect someone and it got a somewhat out of hand. I killed few people and it was more than little messy."

He felt his head being forced upwards to meet a stern face. "Now listen to me boy… killing is part of your job, and if you that to protect someone then it certainly doesn't make you a monster. Besides I have a sure fire way to fix you right up." The old man smiled at the curious expression on Naruto's face… he pointed at the now empty bowl and said "More ramen!"

--------

After stuffing themselves with ramen the Genins were settling down again. There was some confusion as to exactly why the old lady had decided to verbally attack Naruto but an explanation that she'd probably been pranked by Naruto was enough to settle most of the questions.

Also they heard that Sakura was going to be fine although she would be forced to wear a neck brace for a week or so and take it easy for at least few weeks. This information was brought to them by Ino who had been released after a stern warning not to strain her shoulder or ribs. She had then been filled on what had happened afterwards by her teammates and was now staring at Naruto with starry eyes.

Konohamaru was bored, they had been cooped up in this abysmal hellhole for hours. And he'd heard from Iruka-sensei that Naruto-niichan and the other Genin were on the upper levels and that they'd been in battle even. He tried to calm himself but to no avail, the idleness was driving him insane. Deciding to take action he went to the bathroom and performed a quick henge to transform himself into a perfect copy of Iruka, something that came easy to him now that he'd passed Naruto's 'Oiroke no Jutsu' (Sexy no Jutsu… you knew that didn't you?) training.

Calmly stepping out from the bathroom he passed the instructor who was supposed to keep them from entering the upper levels. He nearly tripped when the instructor spoke to him. "Going to check on your Genins again huh? I have to say though… I'm surprised about that Uzumaki kid, I mean taking out a Jounin on his own is no mean feat." Konohamaru was so stunned that he was barely able to grunt in response. _-Oyabun… you are really awesome to take out a Jounin.-_

Meanwhile Kakashi made his appearance. The silver haired Jounin was obviously exhausted and was covered from head to toe with splatters of blood… overall he seemed to be in a good mood though. After having everyone's attention the lazy Jounin said "Alright all, the battle is over and the enemy forces are dead, captured or retreating. Our forces are currently going through the village for any forces possibly hiding there, trying to evade capture."

He cleared his throat. "Now there were some casualties especially among the Chuunin ranks… and Hokage-sama is now in hospital." He was interrupted by a sudden half suppressed sob coming from Konohamaru who had arrived just in time to hear the last part of Kakashi's statement. Naruto was quick to move to the kid and hold his shoulder in a supportive manner while the Jounin continued. "According to ANBU it would seem that Orochimaru had taken the place of the Kazekage. There were further complications as several Sound nins isolated Sandaime-sama and the traitor…"

He looked at Naruto. "The fight was in the Hokage's favour as it seemed to the ANBU present that Orochimaru had trouble using his left arm…" at this the blonde gave a feral grin, which was mirrored by Kyuubi. "As it was Orochimaru didn't have time to finish any jutsus before the Hokage managed to summon Enma and land a hit on his right arm with Enma's 'Gongounyoi' (Adamantine Staff) form. The hit itself wasn't very damaging but apparently Enma decided to take a bite out of Orochimaru by tearing off his arm from the elbow… I saw the severed appendage myself."

Naruto was slightly uncomfortable with the feeling of deep satisfaction that was emanating from Kyuubi but shrugged it off as a probable 'demon' thing. He listened as Kakashi continued. "Anyway that hit didn't come without its own price as Orochimaru was able to impale Hokage-sama with his 'Kusanagi' (Grasscutter)… The wound itself was treated quickly by ANBU medics and the poison from the sword neutralized… however the Hokage suffered some damage to his back and head when he fell from the rooftop they were fighting at."

He then explained how Orochimaru and his minions had withdrawn from the battle quickly after Enma had bitten of the traitor's arm, something to which Naruto paid no heed as he tried to comfort Konohamaru who was now sobbing quietly. Despite feeling sad himself the blonde tried to assure the Hokage's grandson with words like "Look the old geezer isn't going to croak on something that small… he's the Hokage for pity's sake. And remember we both need to kick his ass before he can die anyway..." While not exactly the best words for the situation they seemed to calm the little kid down to a point where he was able to put up a brave, if a little shaky, smile and nod with a determination.

Hinata was watching Naruto in silence after shooting a freezing glare at Ino who was staring at the blonde while thinking. _-He's even good with kids… and he saved me from that Jounin too I really have to make it up to him…-_

Hinata didn't say anything though as she watched Konohamaru get comforted by his 'Oyabun' She did a lot of thinking though. _-Naruto-kun is so kind, even when he's in pain himself he still thinks of others first. From what he told me I think that Hokage-sama was like a grandfather of sorts to him… and Iruka-sensei was like a father…-_

Her gaze glided over to the bored looking Kakashi who was now reading his orange book. _-I wonder if he thinks that Kakashi is like a uncle or something for him.-_ Her train of though was interrupted when Kakashi noticing that he was being watched smiled at the girl causing his visible eye to curve in a curious way. Hinata shook her head mentally and though. _-Nah… no way-_

--------

Naruto was currently in the little place in his mind that was referred as 'Kyuubi's' and was engrossed in yelling at the fox. To say that he was pissed was an understatement. He had been walking Hinata home, on the pretence that there might be enemy ninja about, and had even mustered the courage to hold her hand… And had bloody well been about to talk to her about some more personal issues, namely asking her to go out with him as a couple, when the damn furball had started giving 'advice' and had effectively ruined the moment.

And now he was here yelling. "Ok now you listen to me you damn furball… I don't really mind you living in my head/belly/whatever but stay away from my private affairs." Kyuubi just blinked innocently. "And don't play innocent with me you baka kitsune… You know we humans have a saying that goes something like 'Two's company, three's crowd…'"

Kyuubi scratched the behind of her ear thoughtfully. Just as Naruto was about to launch into tirade she cut in. **"Well I just wanted to help you get some pups…"** The blonde naturally went ballistic at this. "PUPS? Hell I haven't even been on a date with her and you want me to get kids… sheesh, humans aren't like foxes or demons or whatever. We don't just jump straight into the family phase."

Kyuubi nodded sagely **"Yes well the courtship is important…"** she was cut off by Naruto who was again getting red in the face. "That's not the point… the point is I want you to stay the hell quiet when I'm doing something like that. I mean some things need privacy so please… unless you want to move back to your old residence in the sewers?"

Kyuubi snorted in surrender at the face of this 'vile' threat. **"Fine… but I get to tease you afterwards."** Naruto snorted too and then conceded to the point as there probably was no way to keep the fox from doing it anyway. "Fine…". Kyuubi smiled **"And I want to meet her after you two start courting…"** Seeing that Naruto was about to object she hastily continued. **"If she agrees…"**

Naruto glared at the fox and huffed in defeat "Fine…" Kyuubi smiled at the boy and wagged her nine tails a little making Naruto to wag his three tails. This was something that Naruto and Kyuubi were both quite proud of… to gain a third tail in matter of months instead of decades. Both the Bijyuu and the Jinchuuriki were now smiling at each other having reached an understanding. Then Kyuubi spoke. **"So when am I going to get grandkids?"**

It took Naruto some fifteen minutes to recover from his shock while Kyuubi was laughing wholeheartedly at her 'baka container'… **_-Yes it certainly won't get boring with this kit.- _**

--------

It was the day following the battle of Konoha and the Genins were gathered near the Hokage tower to receive their missions. None of their Jounin instructors were present when a Chuunin arrived tossing a scroll at Shikamaru. They were ordered to move to the southern section of Konoha to aid in clearing the rubble from a fire that had started, and destroyed a good portion of the city, there. As during the battle Shikamaru was in overall command with Shino and Naruto working under him.

At the end of a long day the whole group, including Gaara, Naruto and Lee, were exhausted, sweaty and covered in soot. As he made his way home Naruto had only one thing in his mind… shower, bath, bed and of course... cup ramen. After opening his door he realized that things never were that easy, a realization that was borne from the sight of a certain silver haired uncle of his, lounging lazily on his bed reading that hentai book of his.

Kakashi waved his hand in greeting without bothering to rise from his comfortable position. "Hello Naruto… It was quite a performance during the finals with the 'Chidori' and all…" He raised his eyebrow slightly at the lack of response from the exhausted boy. "Anyway… I brought you a new set of jutsus you could study seeing as how you are going for a mission and all." Now this got Naruto's attention, he hadn't heard about any missions. "Oh and if you don't mind I'll just move all your stuff to your father's house. Apparently your landlord decided to evict you in the favour of those people who lost their homes during the battle. Well it's his loss really… and your gain."

Naruto was trying to get his mouth working. _-Mission, evicted, mission? What the hell what mission?-_ Before he could utter a word Kakashi stood up, tossed him a bundle of scrolls and said "Study those if you have time… Jiraiya will give you the details on your mission so see you in a month or two. Oh and by the way coax him into teaching you the 'Rasengan' (Ummm you know what this is right?). Well anyway I got things to do, missions to accomplish." He then vanished in a cloud of smoke before Naruto could utter a single word. _-A mission with Ero-Sennin, what the hell… and a month or two?-_

While cursing Kakashi in his mind and pondering the mystery of this new 'mission' Naruto spend the next hour soaking up in his bathtub. _-Well I definitely have to see Hinata before I leave… and go see that old geezer to tell him to get better, and maybe Sakura-chan too.-_ As he exited the bathroom he found that he had another uninvited visitor. Mt. Myobukugama's holy master sennin, also know as the toad sennin or the great Jiraiya-sama was digging through his closets with abandon. He blinked at the sight and then walked over to the old man and poked him politely on the shoulder. When the aged pervert turned towards him he yelled at the top of his lungs "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DIGGING THROUGH MY STUFF OLD MAN?"

Jiraiya was quick to recover and answered. "Now now brat, just tell me where are you 'educational magazines'" Seeing Naruto frown in confusion he yelled in inquisitorial tone. "Your porn brat… I know you have some, how else could you have gotten that sexy jutsu of yours down to perfection." Naruto began to develop a slight twitch as a vein popped on his forehead. Few moments of hentai bashing later the pervert was sporting a rather nasty looking bump on his head.

He composed himself quickly though. "Now listen up Naruto… we are going to track down an old team mate of mine by the name of Tsunade. She's a legendary medical ninja and possibly the only one who can wake Sarutobi-sensei from his coma." He looked at Naruto who was now listening carefully. "Also… I want you to come with me as my personal apprentice so get ready as we leave tomorrow morning." The Gama sennin wasn't certainly expecting the reaction he got from Naruto who simply crossed his arms and said "No!"

Jiraiya blinked and looked at the blonde questioningly. Naruto elaborated. "I got some stuff I need to do before we go… like going to see the old geezer and stuff." He didn't go any further to who he exactly needed to see, it was better not to give the pervert any ideas. "Anyway I can leave after lunch at the earliest…"

Now, Jiraiya was not called a super-pervert for nothing, the man who'd developed 'Toton jutsu' (Transparent Escape Technique) just for peeping purposes was not fooled. His well developed sense for anything even possibly and remotely perverted told him that Naruto was definitely going to see a girl before leaving Konoha. _-I have stay on his heels the whole day tomorrow… he's probably going to say 'sweet goodbye' to the cute Hinata-chan.-_ Barely suppressing a perverted chuckle he simply nodded and ordered Naruto to meet him at Konoha's gates right after lunch.

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Naruto was feeling somewhat nervous, something that he really didn't know how to cope with. Here he was, carrying take out ramen from Ichiraku's, which had luckily survived intact, and waiting for Hinata to show up. And there she was running towards their appointed meeting place even if she wasn't late yet. She smiled shyly at Naruto, a smile that faltered when she saw the large backpack that was beside the boy.

Foregoing any talking they dug into their respective dishes, which were the Ichiraku deluxe special that the old man whipped out just to thank them for their efforts in the defence of Konoha. However all things come to an end and Naruto was growing even more uncomfortable. He was spared from trying to talk coherently though when Hinata asked in a tiny voice "Ano… Naruto-kun, why do you have a pack… you are not going anywhere are you?"

Naruto began to fidget and poke his fingers together, something that Hinata found rather cute and irritating at the same time… she also wondered if Naruto felt the same way when she poked her fingers together. "Uh yeah… Umm. Hinata-chan I have to go for a mission for some time, for like maybe a month or so." Hinata's face fell at this. "So anyway I just wanted to say goodbye and all that before I go." Suddenly Naruto rammed a fist to the side of his head causing Hinata to jump back a little. "Uh… sorry, just trying to ah. I mean damn it. Remember what we talked about… you know before the finals?"

She nodded, only thing that she could do really from the emotional strain of the moment… this was it... the hour of judgement was nigh. "So anyway about that… I was just wondering if you would like to. I mean with me. To go out someday?" Inside Naruto's mind Kyuubi was biting her own tail to keep from laughing out loud. After a few more head bashes Naruto tried again this time with little more coherence. "I mean would you like to go out with me after I come back… like for a date?"

Hinata was however far from Konoha in a place between the 'Cloud Nine' and 'La-la Land'. Finally as Naruto was getting rather impatient and dejected looking she suddenly returned and squealed in delight as she tackled the startled blonde. "Yes… yes… YES!" She then realized the position they were in and quickly scampered back when the nervousness returned with vengeance. "Ano… Naruto-kun I mean I would like that very much…"

This time it was Naruto who was somewhere far from the vicinity of Konoha… few moments later he returned and flashed out one of his widest smiles as of yet. "Yeah that's great Hinata-chan… so umm well… I guess I'll have to go then." He scratched his hair nervously… "So see you soon right?"

He tried to get up but was stopped by a shy arm that was holding his hand. Hinata was blushing like mad and managed after a not so few tries finally stutter out the words "Ano… Naruto-kun… a goodbye kiss?" Naruto nodded breathlessly while trying to control his blushing and keeping several not so pure thoughts out of his mind. They inched closer and closer until finally their lips met ever so briefly… it was a peck really and that would have been the end of that if Hinata hadn't suddenly felt the reality of the situation crash over her. _-I'm kissing Naruto-kun… and he's leaving and… I want more!-_

Feeling bolder than ever before in her life she grabbed the Kyuubi's carrier by his blonde hair and pulled him into a full kiss, which was something that Naruto was quick to participate in after getting over his initial shock. Then she remembered something she'd read in a women's magazine that was left lying about in the hospital and decided to go even further causing Naruto to almost faint at the feel of a soft tongue probing his teeth.

Back in Naruto's mind Kyuubi was chuckling to herself. She'd been sure her little promise of 'non interference' would have needed some bending in the form of cleverly applied chakra and little kitsune seduction but apparently the shy girl wasn't as shy as she believed herself to be. She grinned to herself and began again wondering exactly how powerful her grandchildren would be.

Naruto started losing himself in a haze after Hinata had deepened their initially innocent peck into a full blown make out session with tongues, gropings and all. He was enjoying himself to the fullest until he began aware of several things. A) They were near Konoha's gates. B) They were as they said 'making out'. C) He could hear chuckling and it certainly wasn't Kyuubi.

As Hinata stopped to draw breath Naruto used the break to his advantage and pressed the girl against him so that they could no longer be in direct liplock. He stroked her hair for a moment while trying to calm his erratic breathing and heartbeat. "Ah Hinata-chan that was… I take that means that you like me right?." He almost continued their previous activities when he heard a whisper of "I love you Naruto-kun" from the girl. Fighting down the urges he then managed to stutter. "I uh… we're kinda in the open and I think someone saw us."

This caused an immediate reaction from Hinata who quickly scooted to her knees and a good meter away from Naruto while blushing like a tomato. The chuckling died down at this and soon revealed itself to, Hinata's relief and Naruto's dismay, be none other than the legendary Jiraiya. He flashed his most charming smile at Hinata and then said in an apologetic tone "Sorry to interrupt you Hyuuga-sama but I'm afraid I need my young apprentice for a mission and he's late already."

This made Naruto to object loudly. "Ero-Sennin, we were supposed to meet after lunch damn you… and we just got here. Look our second round of ramen is still hot even." Jiraiya just smirked at the boy who was now trying to act nonchalant and open a container of takeout ramen only to find that the ramen was indeed cold and that he was… late. _-I just wonder how far they'd gone if I hadn't blown it… the boy would have probably shown up tomorrow or something. Maybe I should give him the talk and everything… especially if he's serious about Hinata-chan, I mean Hiashi-kun would have probably killed him for what happened already, with him always being such a hothead.-_

Before Jiraiya could drag the boy off he walked over to Hinata and hugged her one last time while whispering "Goodbye Hinata-chan… I love you too." to her ear before jumping off and shouldering his backpack. Flashing the girl a dazzling smile he yelled "Well I'm off to train with Ero-Sennin so you keep on training too and I'll see you soon!" He then grabbed the pervert and began to drag him towards the gate before he could say anything to ruin the mood.

Just as they reached the gates a panting Iruka came to view yelling at Naruto to stop. Trying to catch his breath the Chuunin said "Heh Naruto… I heard you were going on a mission for a while so I got you a little something to remind you of Konoha." He pushed a small package to Naruto's hand. "Anyway I got to go…" and then whispered "And I have the negatives so prank me again I dare you…" to Naruto's ear before vanishing from sight. Naruto scratched his head in wonder and began to think of possible ways of making Iruka's life more 'exciting'

They were a good fifty meters from the gates when he suddenly remembered the package Iruka had showed into his hand. It was a small travel size photo album that had a few pictures in it. There was the picture of him sporting his new Hitai-ate, him eating ramen with Iruka and then to his joy and terror a picture of him sleeping in Hinata's arms and worse yet another off him snuggling to her bosom. As the blonde looked at the pictures he began to reminisce about what had transpired just moments earlier…

Jiraiya watched in amusement as Naruto's eyes glazed over, he could very well guess that the boy was thinking at that time and why he was thinking it. After all he had seen the photos too and had made a mental note to extort copies of those pictures from Iruka. He began to chuckle again as he too remembered what had happened… and then the inspiration struck. Yes… it was pure gold, his biggest yet. _-Hmmm let's see… the son of a noble family whose parents are killed by highwaymen leaving the young toddler to be found and raised by a kitsune yokai. He then shares a blood bond with the kitsune mother… hmmh have to research yokai legends for that. The boy meets a girl from another noble family and the two fall in love. Yes…thats it, the new bestseller.-_

He whipped out a notebook and wrote with careful and refined hand the words 'Icha Icha Foxboy' on the first page. Then his perverted chuckling escalated into full blown laughter that spoke volumes. The laughter was cut abruptly though when Naruto suddenly asked. "Oi Ero-Sennin… what's so funny?"

Jiraiya began to sweat _-Shit… if he finds out about 'Icha Icha Foxboy' I'm as good as dead… Think Jiraiya, think.-_ Then in a sudden flash of insight he said. "Oh nothing, just thinking how much ass you are going to kick after I teach you Arashi-kun's most powerful attack… the 'Rasengan'" He mentally patted himself on the back as Naruto's expression turned from suspicious to eager. _-Yes the Rasengan will keep the brat occupied for the duration of this trip… maybe if he behaves I'll teach him something else. But for now it's my newest masterpiece.- _

**TBC… **(The next chapter will come faster than this one… I promise)

Author's rant after these 15.1k words (without the rant)

First I'd like to thank all those who have reviewed/pmessaged me and all that and to alleviate your worries no this fic is not dead and will not die until it's finished… as in at the end of its road. It will not be abandoned or nothing of the sort. I think I have answered most of the Pmessages I've gotten, if you haven't been answered then I'm deeply sorry and will give myself fifty lashes for every transgression of this type.

Also if you are concerned as to why I don't answer your reviews… when I'm lazy and answering n+1 almost identical reviews would be like drinking tar. I try to address any questions dealing with the fic in these ridiculously long A/N's though :)

And… I was going to off the old man btw. but then the multitude of people wanting to leave the geezer alive had me thinking. I hope it came out as a plausible way to keep him alive and kicking (more or less)... So keep those reviews coming

Right… I have been lazier than Shikamaru on tranquilizers when it came to starting this fic. Well not really, it's just that my employer decided that a little bureaucracy wouldn't hurt and thus I didn't get paid until last week... as in I got paid first time this year last week.

How this affects my writing you ask… well not much really only that I've been eating Ramen or Macaroni and cheese (without the cheese since it costs too much) for the last month and a half. Naturally I had to hunt in the suburbs to get some meat to go with these fine dishes… You know. Ducks, rabbits, pigeons, neighbourhood pets, little children and the elderly… whatever I was able to catch.

But seriously I promise I'll get the next chapter out sooner and if I can't I'll make up yet another silly explanation for my laziness :)

Now then to the issues…

1) Apparently there is some confusion about the Shunshin and Hiraishin. Now I use Wikipedia's Naruto page as my source since it's the best one I've found thus far. There Hiraishin is described as the Yondaime's jutsu that allowed him to 'summon' himself to a location that contained a specific seal. And the Shunsin is described as being a 'high speed movement technique'. Anyway check it out yourself at www(.)wikipedia(.)org

2) Now… why didn't Jiraiya teach Naruto the Rasengan? I stated that there was only a month to teach it and he didn't do it because of that. Well we know that Naruto learned the Rasengan in one month… Jiraiya however doesn't and as it took him what? three years to master it… so he wouldn't expect a brat like Naruto to learn it so quickly. Hope this clarifies any confusion.

3)Hinata is being so bold/scary because a) she's been 'sampling' the goods for over a month now and really likes what she's uhh… sampled so far b) she nearly died at the fight and was rescued by the hero c) those women's magazines are really frank ( I read several articles from one once at the dentist and have to say that they would probably get banned from most any site) On a related note I'm debating whether or not I should have a huge catfight between Ino and Hinata in which Hinata would Jyuken Ino a bit… probably not but still… Also they are fourteen instead of twelve in this fic... so raging hormones... admit it you had them too!

4) I hope the fighting didn't suck as it was damn hard to write about. The initial battle had 'only' 50 participants plus the two animals.

5)If you are wondering about the shelter just take a natural cave and your standard (thus desolate) military barracks and mix em up. Your neighbourhood bomb shelter probably is something like that too, though it would have to be a natural cave to have outcroppings that conveniently shield lovebirds from the sight of others :P

Stay tuned for the next chapter in which Naruto reads the 'Icha Icha Foxboy' and in which Tsunade 'busts' loose :P (pun intended)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by the Bijyuu"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 8: The Longest Journey

Naruto relaxed his concentration and the flattened water balloon began to resume its original shape. He stared at the damn thing and sighed while listening to his travelling companion's almost incessant giggling. Casting a sidelong glance at the 'Great' Jiraiya he snorted and pondered what really was setting the white haired Sannin into his obviously perverted state of mind. Naruto smirked _-Like he needs anything to set him into that… I bet he was born like that. Why, he probably even tried to grope the delivery staff when he was born.-_

Showing aside his musing about Ero-sennin's obvious pervertedness and the occasional thought of a certain pale eyed girl, he sighed and focused again on the damnable balloon. It had taken perhaps an hour to get the chakra to spin the water in the balloon, after that it had been a 'simple' task of adding more chakra to make the water spin faster. The only problem was that the balloon wouldn't pop but instead flattened as the water began to spin faster and faster… The blonde surmised that he didn't use enough chakra and tried to push out more and then more. Finally he was pulling out considerable amount of Kyuubi's chakra and as a result the balloon was as flat as a pancake… but the damn thing still didn't blow up.

"OI! Ero-Sennin… what's the deal with this damn balloon anyway? This is some sort of trick balloon right?" The furious scribbling and the accompanied giggling ceased momentarily as Jiraiya glanced at his student, then the old man's eyes widened almost impossibly. What he saw was Naruto looking rather annoyed and a flattened balloon that was roughly thirty centimetres in diameter… a balloon that was clearly near its breaking point. The white haired man stepped quickly next to Naruto and grabbed his hand just as the balloon exploded with a loud pop…

Both Naruto and Jiraiya sweat dropped as they examined the damage the swirling water had caused, there was a deep gouge in the ground only a hairs breadth away from Jiraiya's geta (Wooden sandals he wears). There was a moment of quiet peace until Jiraiya's screaming drove nearby birds into the air. After a good few minutes of yelling at Naruto, for being such a baka, Jiraiya managed to calm down and return from the brink of an impending heart attack… few more minutes later Naruto was grinning widely, he might have the makings of a new technique here after all.

"…so do you understand why that thing you did with the balloon is useless?" After receiving a nod of confirmation Jiraiya produced another water balloon from his sleeve and filled it with water. "Now observe, I'll show this to you only once more so you better pay attention brat." Again Naruto only nodded and watched carefully as the balloon began to vibrate, then blew up with a splash. He let out a contemplative 'hmmh' before looking at the perverted old man. "Do it again… I think I got it now…"

Jiraiya just smirked and pulled out another balloon, filled it with water and then stated "No!" before throwing the balloon at Naruto, completely soaking him. "I already told you, I'll show it only once. Now get to it!" The blonde began to yell but was completely ignored by the white haired Sannin who was already scribbling something with a furious pace and had even begun to giggle oddly. Naruto sighed and began to curse the old man silently only to be interrupted by Kyuubi who politely asked if Naruto was a crybaby who couldn't do anything on his own.

Swallowing his complaints the Jinchuuriki decided to think back to Jiraiya's demonstration. _-The water didn't only spin, it was more like the water was spinning every which way. But it would require me to create several chakra spins that would move independently… sounds like this jutsu needs a ton of control and then some. Lucky for me I have just that.-_

Jiraiya was smiling while writing his newest masterpiece. The brat had certainly amazed him and would probably pass the first stage within few months, possibly even before they found Tsunade. He briefly scratched Akai who was perched in his spiky hair and then pondered how long his young charge would take to master the Rasengan._ -Hmmph if he takes after Arashi-kun I'd say a year or so, especially since he can practice at least two or three times more in a day than normal people… Now where was I? Right 'The foxboy was unable to tear his eyes of the visage of beauty that was bathing in his favourite pond…'-_ The giggling returned in full force while Naruto was grunting from exertion.

Jiraiya had just finished a particularly juicy part dealing with bathing scenes and all that when a splash and a loud yell of "YESSS!" disrupted his blessed creativity. The old man looked at Naruto who was holding an empty hand towards him and grinning madly… needles to say the Sannin was floored by this, only few hours and the brat had passed stage one. After quickly recovering Jiraiya simply produced another balloon, filled it with water and tossed it to the boy who deftly caught it from the air. "Now show me… I seriously doubt you actually managed to pass stage one."

The blonde's face became a mask of concentration and the balloon in his hand began to bounce madly before quickly exploding in a brief burst of water. Jiraiya's jaw hung loose while Naruto again grinned like a madman. "I figured I need to spin my chakra into multiple different directions to make it spin 'madly' enough to break the balloon… after I got the hang of it was easy." At this the perverted Sannin plummeted to the ground. _-Easy he says... I've created a monster. Well there's still the stage two, but then it's only about power… still it might slow him down for a week or two, then again if he passes it in only a few days it'll be a pain. I won't be able to concentrate on my precious book if I have him hanging on me and begging for more cool techniques.-_

Jiraiya came back from his reverie to find Naruto poking him and babbling incessantly about how he was now a step closer to mastering the Rasengan. As the older man gathered himself from the ground he smirked at the eager expression on the boy's face, an expression that was mollified somewhat when he tossed a rubber ball at the boy. "Here's stage two then brat. The first was to spin your chakra, now you add the power to it…" While he was talking, Jiraiya fished another rubber ball from his robes and then promptly made it explode in his hand. "This is only about a hundred times harder than the previous step, so don't get too frustrated if you don't get it anytime soon." There was a slight pause before the old man added "And absolutely NO Kyuubi chakra… use your own."

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Hinata was fidgeting nervously while standing outside her father's study. It was rare that Hiashi would summon his 'weak' daughter to an audience and when he did it was never good. Far too soon, in her opinion, she was admitted into the presence of the head of the prestigious Hyuuga-clan, Hyuuga Hiashi. After a motion to sit down and a stern "Sit Hinata." she quietly shuffled over and took a seat on one of the cushions arranged near the wall of the room.

Much to Hinata's surprise she wasn't scolded over, rather her father stood up and came to sit on the cushions near her. Hiashi regarded his fidgeting daughter with emotionless eyes before speaking. "I have read a report of your actions during the defence of the academy. After that I asked Neji for an assessment on your performance during the fight." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You would have died, was it not for Uzumaki-san's interference." Hinata lowered her head and began to mumble apologies only to have them overridden by her father's voice. "Not before single-handedly removing a Chuunin and putting up a fight against a clearly superior Jounin enemy…"

Hinata's head snapped up at this and she, a rare occurrence, stared her father straight in the eyes in amazement and nearly missed the following statement. "In fact, Neji's testimony gives me a reason to believe you have been letting up on your sister during your matches." Hiashi's eyes narrowed in suspicion as he registered a flash of something pass his daughter's eyes. "Regardless… I have decided that it's time you begin your training in advanced forms of the Jyuken…"

Hinata gasped slightly, this was certainly not something she had been expecting. She would never have expected Neji of all people to praise her skills, nor that she was put up for advanced training. Hiashi's voice cut through her musings. "Now Hinata… As I'm sure you remember, I placed a wager with Uzumaki-san riding upon his fight with Neji. I would ask you to invite him over so that we might discuss our little bet."

Her heart skipped a beat at the mention of Naruto's name, along with a flood of very recent memories that caused large amount of blood to flow to her facial veins. She instinctively dropped her gaze to the ground in an attempt to hide the excessive blush, before muttering. "Ano… Otou-san, Naruto-kun is on a mission…" Feeling the unasked question in the air she continued. "He left with Jiraiya-sama this afternoon and is expected to return in a few months time."

Even without the Byakugan active she could feel her father's surprise at the news. And indeed, Hiashi was surprised. _-So… the 'Great' Jiraiya has taken another apprentice.-_ If he hadn't been surprised by then, he would have been even more so when Hinata's milky eyes met his in an almost steely gaze. "Otou-san… I… After Naruto-kun returns, I would go out with him." Hiashi simply raised an eyebrow at the tone, it almost indicated an unspoken. 'Whether you like it or not…'

Hinata was feeling a mixture of dread and pride. Pride because she had managed to indicate that she would be seeing Naruto unless explicitly told not to, and even then she would fight tooth and nail for just that. And dread due the fact that his father was yet to say anything, positive or negative as to the matter. He was still calmly observing Hinata while running possible scenarios regarding the request in his mind…

The current heir of the Hyuuga clan almost had her young heart burst from her throat when her father voiced his decision. "Very well… After young Uzumaki returns from his mission you are to invite him for a formal dinner so that I may evaluate his… suitability and discuss certain… rules." Before Hinata could embarrass herself by squeaking out in joy he continued. "Now if there is nothing else…"

It was a clear dismissal and Hiashi was caught off guard when there was a soft. "Ano… I had a question." Another raised eyebrow was only indication given that Hinata should proceed. "What would happen if one would pierce a tenketsu point with a senbon needle?" Hiashi mentally blinked at the unexpected question, his daughter being one surprise after another that day.

After considering the almost eager expression his daughter he simply said. "Nothing… the tenketsu wouldn't be affected unless the senbon was laced with chakra, a feat that has never been accomplished by the Hyuuga or we would certainly have deployed as a form of long range Jyuken. Why did you want to know?"

Hinata began to fidget anew and finally mumbled out a confirmation to Hiashi's guess… Uzumaki Naruto. Seeing Hinata's composure begin to crumble, he decided to continue. "However… there are several critical nerve junctions and pressure points located right under several tenketsus. Piercing those points would cause various effects, pain, paralysis… even death."

Again he had Hinata's full attention, to a point that she was actually looking him in the eye. "I'll see that the book containing the complete list is delivered to your quarters later today." There was a near invisible flick of Hiashi's wrist that was a clear signal for dismissal, a signal that Hinata didn't miss. As she was about to reach for the door her father spoke again. "To master throwing senbons requires great amount of practice and for them to be precisely imbedded in to a moving opponent to produce the effects desired would require more than passing knowledge about chakra string manipulation."

There was a moment of silence and then. "This new training will not impede your Jyuken training, I do in fact expect your performance to improve drastically since your byakugan will need training in order for you to utilize those needles." With that Hinata opened the door and offered a parting bow before she left the room followed by Hiashi's "I will see you at dinner."

Hinata managed to reach her room before collapsing in a heap. She'd been under more emotional pressure, excluding her recent escapades with a certain blonde, than she'd ever been in her young life. She hadn't been berated, but almost praised by her father, who had apparently even accepted Naruto... and she'd been given a chance to get stronger and if she worked hard at it could possibly bring her another step closer to her own secret ambition of being an accomplished med-nin. She was still in a daze when there was a knock on her door and moments later she was face to face with her cousin who simply said. "Hinata-sama… it's time for your training."

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Elsewhere in Konoha, a certain mask wearing Jounin was leaning on a post outside a small teashop when he spotted a pair of familiar people coming his way. In a teasing tone he called out. "Hey you two, you look good together… you guys out on a date?" The tone caused Yuuhi Kurenai to blush before she grumbled something about Anko and sweets and hardly fazed Asuma who pointed at the vacant seats and then ordered some tea for three. Kakashi shrugged and sat down on the table, he had time since he was actually early for his meeting with Sasuke, and besides it wouldn't matter if he was late… it was expected after all.

After the three Jounin received their teas the talk turned to their Genin charges… or more specifically, Naruto. Kakashi, in answer to the demanding questions of "What the hell did you do to that kid anyway, he failed the academy exam and now he won the finals?" and "Yeah, how did you do it, or have you been holding out on us?" simply smiled little under his mask, a visible sign of this only being his eye curving slightly.

Kakashi's eye curved a little more at the accusation of holding out… if they only knew. "Well… about that holding out. You really aren't the one to talk are you Kurenai." Kurenai, taken back by the sudden reversal of the situation and completely perplexed by the remark was trying to regain her composure when the obviously amused Jounin continued. "I mean you always go on and on about how your little Hinata-chan is too shy for her own good… A blatant lie if I ever have heard one."

Now the red eyed Jounin was completely stupefied while even Asuma was slightly shocked, one couldn't spend even half a second in the presence of the young Hyuuga and not notice that she was extremely shy… if one even noticed her. Kakashi, enjoying every moment continued. "Or if she is shy then you really need to give her a stern talk… Because she was either trying to kill my student by a technique that involved suffocating him by showing her tongue down his throat or she was… making out with him."

Kurenai's eyes red eyes widened almost impossibly while her jaw hung loose. While Kakashi was shaken from his mirth by a lecherous "Making out you say?" from Asuma.

Kakashi nodded sagely before saying. "It was just like Daisuke-kun and Yuka-chan in volume three, on their first meeting… there was a tree and everything." Asuma's eyes widened as he recalled the said scene before beginning to mumble silently.

After a moment of mumbling he then suddenly remembered how the 'meeting' had ended and quickly glanced at the still shocked Kurenai before leaning towards Kakashi and whispering. "They went all the way?"

The masked Jounin shook his head wistfully shook his head before responding. "They were stopped by Jiraiya before they reached paragraph seven line four. If he hadn't started chuckling they might have gone a lot longer." Kakashi then feigned a sad tone into his voice. "Ah they grow up so fast these days… and soon they will have reached the end of that particular chapter…"

He got no further when a fist impacted with the top of his skull while another slammed Asuma face first into the table. Yuuhi kurenai was visibly trembling and then began to shout. "You, you perverts…" She then grabbed Kakashi by the throat and pulled him close before continuing in a threatening tone. "If your Naruto has become some sort of depraved sexual predator because of your perversion and has forced Hinata-chan into something indecent I'll remove certain parts of his anatomy… along with yours."

Both the male Jounin and several other males who were within hearing distance sweated heavily because of the sinister threat. In an attempt to placate the fuming Kurenai, Kakashi proceeded to describe what had happened… from how he had noticed a suspicious looking Jiraiya tailing someone and had decided to check it out. Of course the mere mention of Jiraiya aggravated the female Jounin even further, making her mumble about the 'evil grandmaster of all perverts' and such.

She calmed down somewhat after the explanation, nothing had happened after all. Frowning to herself she cast a suspicious look at Kakashi before silently vowing to give Hinata a stern talk about hormones, responsibility and all that. Then she frowned again before thinking _-On a second thought… I better give that baka Naruto the same talk. The Kami only know what kind of crap that sex fiend Jiraiya will try to imprint on him… hmm, maybe some creative intimidation too. Oh well, at least Hinata had her dream come true…-_

Asuma, while interested in the budding affair among their 'little' and 'kawaii' Genin, was also interested in Naruto particularly. By all accounts the blonde should not have made it to the finals, let alone win them. As such he decided to press Kakashi again on the subject.

Kakashi let out a contemplative 'hmmm' and leaned back. Just as his colleagues were about to question him further his visible open fixed them both with a wistful look. "No one ever paid attention to him, not in the academy… not in the team, not until his 'bloodline' emerged." Both of the other shinobi were shocked at the remorseful tone of Kakashi's voice. "You know he almost landed a punch on me during my little bell test after they graduated…"

He now certainly had their attention. "He's loud, acts foolishly and yet he can pull off intricate plans seemingly out of nowhere. He failed to learn how to make a Bunshin in the academy, yet pretty much mastered the creation of Kage Bunshins, and from a scroll no less, in only few hours. If it wasn't for his 'bloodline' he would have been dubbed a genius before his first year in the academy was over." Kakashi scratched his mask covered chin before continuing. "But as for me… I didn't really do much to him, gave him a few nudges towards working on his chakra control, few technique scrolls that would suit him well and… I put him under Gai's 'youthful' taijutsu tutelage."

Kakashi then let out another 'mmmh' and lazily pulled out his book and quipped over the upper edge of the book. "Also I suppose it helps if you have his stamina, not to mention the stubbornness… I just wonder how he will grow when he's under Jiraiya's for a month or two." His eye focused on the book, signalling the other two that the conversation was over for the moment.

None of the Jounin present had noticed the eavesdropper who left while quivering with rage. The brooding figure began to stalk towards the Ichiraku's ramen stand in the intent of finding a certain blonde. _-They are giving him power… power that I should have, not some dobe. I'll find him and I'll squeeze your secrets out from you. Just you wait Naruto… and if you try to hold me back you'll pay.- _

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Naruto grumbled while he waited the bathtub to fill with water. Jiraiya had ditched him and gone skirt chasing… and worse yet he'd forbidden Naruto from practicing the second step of the Rasengan. The blonde had spent a good three hours trying to pump more force into the spin, up to the point where his entire right hand was visibly shaking from the exertion. This had prompted Jiraiya to examine his hand and then whack him for overdoing it… Naruto had several chakra burns in his hand and the strain to his chakra coils made it hard for him to use the arm properly.

Yet, it wasn't a total loss as he had managed to make the rubber ball wobble quite violently. And after he'd been banned from Rasengan practice, Ero-Sennin had given him a package from Kakashi. A book of Katon jutsus labelled 'Obito's book of Katon Jutsus', and a note that threatened him with all sorts of horrors should something happen to the said book were in the package. The book itself covered Katon techniques from academy level fire breathing technique to the more formidable Katon: Karyo Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet) along with commentary from Obito on the jutsus, several creative names for Kakashi and few doodles that depicted a masked guy jumping around with his pants on flames.

The blonde let out a satisfied sigh when he lowered himself into the tub, letting the warmth of the water to seep into his hand and relax its aching… only to yelp in surprise as a ball of orange fur jumped into the tub, splashing water over Naruto. After a while of luxurious soaking Akai demanded to be lifted off the tub, then shook herself clear off excess water and decided to dry off on Jiraiya's pillow… it was conveniently placed under an open window after all.

Naruto on the other hand stayed in the tub and began to run through the basic fire jutsus he'd memorized from Obito's book. He had just managed to create a steady, if very narrow, stream of fire that made a nice hissing sound when it hit the water when his concentration was interrupted by a loud knocking sound causing him to lose control of his jutsu and nearly incinerate his hair in the process. Wrapping a towel around himself the cursing, and sopping wet, blonde walked to the door and yanked it open none too gently.

The boy blinked twice before he began to yell. "Sasuke-teme… What the hell are you doing here and why the hell did you have to interrupt my bath?" Before his visitor had even the chance to reply he continued. "Sheesh don't just stand there, get in and close the door before someone sees me like this." With that he grabbed the other boy by collar and pulled him in the room before slamming the door shut. After a moment of silence Naruto just shrugged and quickly got dressed while trying to coax any response from the silent Uchiha. Finally, as he was tying his Hitai-ate on, the other boy answered his question with a simple. "Fight me!"

The blonde just stared before stuttering a startled. "What? Teme… did you come out here just for that, seriously you need to lighten up. Besides I don't have time for that now, I'm on a mission and all that." Sasuke just glared at the denial, causing Naruto to ponder exactly what was wrong with his team mate. _-He's acting all weird again, just like in the tower after I told Hokage-ojisan about the curse seal.-_

Sasuke continued to glare at the blonde and then finally bit out. "They are giving you power… I want to know why. Why are you so special, you have no goal in life except a silly and unachievable dream of becoming a Hokage…" This naturally pissed the blonde off and he was all but ready to give Sasuke the beating he clearly needed to knock himself back to his senses. Before he had a chance to act on his anger he was once again interrupted by loud pounding of the door.

Naruto opened the door, took one look of the person standing there and then whipped his head around to confirm that Sasuke was indeed in the room behind him and not in the hallway. He then turned at the newcomer only to hear a hiss of drawn breath and a whisper of "Itachi…" from Sasuke and a cold "It's been a while Sasuke…" Before Naruto could process what was happening Sasuke already leaped forwards, his Sharingan blazing, only to be slammed against the hallway wall by Itachi who added insult to the injury by coldly remarking. "Pathetic little brother, go away and leave me conduct my business with Uzumaki-san here."

Sasuke just growled and flashed through several hands seals and charged forward again, Sharingan still active and a newly formed Chidori in his left hand. The charge ended almost before it started when Itachi turned the attack aside and slammed Sasuke's Chidori into the nearby wall before, in a cool and collected manner, snapping Sasuke's wrist as if it was a stick. The older Uchiha then grabbed the younger by the throat and pressed him against the wall while staring into his eyes. Sasuke began to scream in terror as Itachi whispered. "You will relive that day… for a day."

While Naruto wasn't exactly fond of Sasuke's recent behaviour he still considered him a friend and this guy, Itachi, was the bastard who'd turned Sasuke into the cold bastard he was. That, and then there was the nagging feeling he'd gotten when he first met Gaara, although the feeling was emanating from Itachi's partner. Naruto drew himself into a defensive posture and tapped into Kyuubi's chakra and readied himself, only to see Itachi's baleful Sharingan eyes lock with his. He barely registered Itachi's partner say with a smirk. "That's the Mangekyo Sharigan… you would have been better off if Itachi had let me just cut you a bit. Enjoy the pain and insanity brat…"

Naruto blinked, he'd been standing in the hotel hallway and was now in someplace that closely resembled Kyuubi's corner of his mind. Itachi was there also, and although Naruto didn't quite notice it, looking perplexed. _-Did the Tsukiyomi fail… no, that's not it. But where the hell are we and why am I here?-_ The blonde's train of thought ran on the same lines as Itachi's… until a chilling chuckling sound shook both males from their respective thoughts. There, grinning demonically was the Kyuubi no Yoko in all her demonic glory, her crimson eyes blazing with rage and killer intent so fierce that it almost froze Naruto to the spot.

"**Uchiha Itachi… You and all the Akatsuki will meet your death, but you do so delight me by coming here so that I may kill you personally. I was already resigned to a role of bystander… Now die insect!"** With that last growl a massive paw came slamming on, the now visibly shaken, Itachi making him scream out in terror. Then there was even more terrifying growl as the paw was repulsed with a crackle of energy as the seal placed on Kyuubi forced her furious attacks back causing the great demon roar in outrage.

And just as suddenly Naruto was back in the hallway and watched as a whimpering Itachi fell backwards and began frantically to crawl away from the blonde. There was a whoosh when a large sword was swung through the air by Itachi's companion who grinned at the boy menacingly. "Never seen Itachi like that, must be the power of the nine-tails… but all the better, now I get to cut you brat." The large man swung his sword with unexpected swiftness and brought it down to the place Naruto had vacated just a split second earlier. "My Samehada will drink your blood…"

The blonde Jinchuuriki quickly removed the genjutsu from his training bracers when the guy, he had dubbed him 'Fishy' due his shark like appearance, stopped to laugh. "That's quite the menacing chakra you are putting out brat. Come! Let my Samehada feed on your chakra and then I'll cut your limbs off…" Naruto was now wary, even more so when Kyuubi began to yell in his mind. **"Beware kit… that chakra, it has to be. It's Isonade 'The Devourer'… This human is a Jinchuuriki like you. You have to break that sword or we are dead."**

Naruto cursed inward while dodging another lazy sweep of the giant sword. "How the hell am I supposed to break that thing if it eats my chakra?" There was a moment of silence in his mind and he was forced to dodge yet another blow before Kyuubi answered. **"Well… it's a double or nothing thing. Pull out all my chakra you can without losing control, grab the sword with your tails and slam a Chidori into the flat of the blade. Or… you could just try running away."**

Naruto cursed again and somersaulted away from the sword that threatened to cut his legs from under him. Continuing his motion he performed a few backflips to gain some distance and flashed through the monkey, hare and ox seals necessary to perform the Chidori and making 'Fishy' to laugh in disdain. "Come nine-tails brat… come and let my sword feast on your chakra…"

At this the younger Jinchuuriki began to laugh evilly while red chakra began to visibly glow around the boy. "As you wish fish-face…" With that Naruto sprang into action, with the Chidori dragging behind him and tearing up the hallway with its force. Three blazing tails of crimson shot out from behind the boy and grabbed the large sword that was descending towards him, the sword easily cutting through the first but stopped by the second and third tail. With a wicked grin the blonde yelled out "Say Sayonara to your toy fishy… Take this! CHIDORI!" before slamming the crimson condensation of chakra into the side of the large sword.

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Jiraiya arrived in the nick of time to see the still shaking Uchiha Itachi trying to stand while leaning on the wall and Naruto slam a crimson Chidori into the large sword wielded by Itachi's accomplice Hoshigaki Kisame, only to be blown off his feet, along with everyone else when the sword exploded. There was an earsplitting scream of terror from Kisame who was staring in shock at the rapidly disintegrating remains of his sword. Everyone, sans Kisame who seemed to be rooted on his spot, began to back away from the scene. The energy flowing from the remains of the sword began to form, first into a large shark with three dorsal fins and then a moment later it began to coalesce into a form of a man.

Itachi chose this opportune moment to flee the scene, dealing with one Jinchuuriki was enough but to deal with a hostile Bijyuu alone was not even a remote possibility. Jiraiya noticed his hasty exit but was busy trying to find a way for himself and Naruto to hightail it. He was about to make a grab for Naruto and run for it when the three-tails suddenly moved and grabbed the blonde in question by his throat. **"Mwahahaa… vessel of the Kyuubi, you have set me free from my imprisonment and I'll pay you back. I'll make sure your death will be quick after I release her from within you."**

Naruto, who found it hard to remain calm despite encouraging words from Kyuubi, managed to stutter out. "Impossible… that's what she says anyway." The imposing human figure of the Sanbi (Three tails) narrowed his emotionless black eyes before bellowing in laughter. **"Nice try brat… there is no way the Queen of Foxes would willingly surrender to a seal crafted by a mere mortal."**

The blonde swallowed and then said in a tiny voice. "Uh… the thing is I sort of… she was asleep for years and the seal worked during that time. And uh…" Any further explanations were cut off when the demon shook him, lifted his shirt to observe the seal and then bit him on the arm. Both Jiraiya and Naruto watched in horror as the creature then slowly bared impressive set of triangular teeth that were dripping with blood. Without saying anything he then dropped Naruto like a sack of rice and snarled. **"Your blood… her power is in your blood brat. I will spare you then and I thank you for my freedom."**

The demon then hoisted the horrified Kisame up and was about to leave when Naruto managed to find his voice. "Wait…" This caused the demon to turn around and glare at the boy and made Jiraiya to wave his hands in hushing gestures. "He has information. I… we need that information to extract our vengeance against the Akatsuki."

Isonade seemed to considerer what the boy was saying and while doing so leisurely grabbed Kisame's hand and bit off one of his fingers. The Sanbi then grinned, a rather unnerving sight since all his teeth were bloodied, before nodding. **"Very well… I will find out all this wretch knows, it will be delightful."** He pointedly ignored Kisame, who was babbling about the Akatsuki and how they would kill him if he talked. **"Silence you worm! You are already dead, once you get too far away from me you will die because I am no longer part of your pitiful existence. The question here is how long it will take for you to die."** The monster grinned again before turning to Naruto and roaring in laughter. **"When I'm done with him he'll be able to tell me where and when his bitch of a grandmother lost her virginity…"**

At that the demon roared in laughter again before performing a long series of hand seals with blinding speed and vanishing from sight in a puff of energy. Naruto decided that now was a good time to freak out and promptly passed out on the floor, only to be caught by the awed Jiraiya.

The white haired Sannin had only a moment to examine his student, Sasuke or ponder the weird turn of events when a Kunai whizzed past him and the yell of "Dainamikku Entori" (Dynamic Entry… eh-he-he) split the air before a green blur impacted, foot first, into his head. Moments later three more ninja rushed in to find a sweatdropping Jiraiya listening to Gai's explanation of using his Hitai-ate as a mirror and not making out the target quite well.

Kakashi, completely ignoring Gai's speech quickly rushed to check on Naruto while Kurenai and Asuma checked on Sasuke. After seeing that Naruto was not in any life threatening danger, aside from the bite mark on his arm he seemed to be physically fine, he turned to the Sannin to ask what had happened. Jiraiya, who still wasn't completely out of shock himself just blinked before saying. "Well… Naruto released a bijyuu and…" He got no further before a collective yell of "KYUUBI?" came from all the other adults present.

Jiraiya just shook his head. "Nope… it was Isonade I suppose. Uchiha Itachi's partner Hoshikagi Kisame of the Mist was a Jinchuuriki. Apparently he had somehow sealed the thing into his sword and Naruto broke it, releasing the beast. Then it apparently wanted to kill Naruto to release Kyuubi but he managed to convince it not to… and then uh it promised to torture information regarding the Akatsuki from Kisame and… well I'm not really sure but I think Gai kicked me on the head after that."

Everyone stared at the Sannin like he had just grown extra head or two. There was no sound until a soft snort and a mumbled "Mmmhh Hinata-chan… Rameenn" released the tension and made Jiraiya let out a lecherous snort before demanding to know how the Konoha Shinobi had gotten there.

A Konoha ANBU unit had spotted Kisame and Itachi and had engaged the two, only to barely escape without fatalities. That coupled with the fact that Uchiha Sasuke had missed his meeting with Kakashi and was nowhere to be found had led the four Jounin into an impromptu tracking operation. They had been on the outskirts of the town when they had felt a massive release of demonic chakra and had decided to investigate.

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Naruto woke later to the delicious smell of instant ramen that was waved under his nose, not one to question when there was ramen to be had he made a grab for the cup only to hear a familiar chuckle. "Damn Ero-sennin, did I fall asleep in the tub or what, since I had the weirdest dream…" his voice faded away as he took stock of his surroundings, a crackling fire and a forest clearing. Not to mention that it was, judging from the position of the moon, near midnight. Naruto blinked and looked at the Sannin. "It wasn't a dream was it?"

Jiraiya just shook his head and watched Naruto gobble down a cup of ramen and handed him another when the first one was demolished. "We are few hours of ninja walk from that town, Sasuke is already in Konoha… he's in hospital from suffering some sort of mental breakdown. Itachi has flown to who knows where and I suspect Kisame is effective eliminated." He then pushed yet another cup of ramen to Naruto before patting the blonde on the head. "You did hell of a job there brat, Arashi would be proud of you."

Naruto blushed at the praise only to groan out loud when the aged ninja continued. "And since you have slept half the day you have the first watch… wake me few hours before dawn." There was a moment of silence that was only broken by a few slurping sounds of ramen being demolished before Jiraiya's thunderous snoring began to echo on the clearing. The blonde winced and then cursed 'Stupid lecherous old men' under his breath before doing the handseals required for Kuchiyose no Jutsu.

Jiraiya had been dreaming about the 'Icha Icha Foxboy' and its various characters when a delicious smell penetrated his dreams dispelling the visage of a busty blonde miko. Due this he wasn't quite happy when he finally woke up, even less so when he saw his blonde pupil happily snoring with Akai-chan in his arms and a large brown fox curled around him for warmth. A angry yell of "YOU CALL THIS KEEPING THE WATCH?" cut the chilly morning air and made the blonde yawn languidly before cracking one eye open and making a 'shhh' sound.

About half an hour later Naruto was walking behind a grumpy Jiraiya who was muttering curses about obnoxious 'fox-boys', 'second rate two-bit' summons and lack of respect for his character. He hadn't even been placated by the roasted rabbit he had devoured for breakfast, or Naruto's explanation that he'd had his summons stand guard and hunt for breakfast during the night. Mostly Jiraiya was upset because it had been rather chilly during the night. _-Damn brat… surrounding himself with fur like that. Well, I'll just confiscate his sleeping bag then… see how he likes to summon those beasts every day. HA… that'll teach him to underestimate the great Jiraiya-sama. Now where was I in my writing?-_

After the Sannin got over the bout of his moodiness they fell into a rhythm that repeated itself over the next few days. Naruto would practice the Rasengan and periodically rest his hand by memorizing, or practicing if they were following a river, the fire jutsus and listening Jiraiya and Kyyubi create an intricate theory that would allow him to send people to Kyuubi without the seal interfering with her potential for violence. Jiraiya was almost as interested in the freak occurrence with Itachi as Kyuubi was and was quite forthcoming with suggestions… that is, when he wasn't scribbling something into his notebook and giggling in obvious hentai manner.

It was nearing sunset on the fourth day and they were on a lookout for a good camping site when Naruto suddenly yelled out "Yatta! I did it!" Jiraiya whipped his head around to see totally shred remnants of a rubber ball falling towards the ground… so shocked was the author of the best selling adult book series that he actually let his newest, and about half done, masterpiece fall from his limp fingers. Naruto, walking over to his sensei waved his hand before the petrified old man and jumped around in glee before noticing the book on the ground and reached for it…

The white haired man, driven by his survival instinct, dove for the book but was outmanoeuvred by Naruto who used a tail of chakra to slow the old man and grabbed the notebook. Noting the sudden paling of the older man he smirked. "So Ero-sennin… what's this?" There was no coherent reply as Jiraiya began to back away from Naruto, who opened the first page and read out loud. "Icha Icha Foxboy." There was a moment of oppressive silence, then the sound of a random page turning while Naruto growled. "If this is a perverted book about me I'll kill you."

The blonde scanned a random paragraph and read a random sentence, then read it again and looked at his perverted teacher, perplexed. He then turned another random page and read on, his confusion mounting. _-I thought this was some sort of dirty book… but 'He greedily lapped her dripping peach…' and 'With delicate finger he probed her silken sheath…' Sheesh…-_ He then looked at the trembling sennin and asked "This is about fruits and clothing?" causing the old man fall face first into the ground. For some reason Kyuubi burst out in fits of uncontrollable laughter at that, making Naruto feel like he was being left out on a joke…

After Jiraiya had recovered from his shock he tried desperately to get his precious book back before Naruto could read more but the youth declined, stating that it was probably something perverted… only written in code to throw him off guard. The toad sennin just shrugged and decided that he needed his sleep and turned in for the night.

Next morning the sun rose to reveal an interesting sight. Naruto, drenched in blood and apparently agitated was pacing about while sweating excessively. He had, on Kyyubi's prompting read a 'little' more of Jiraiya's masterpiece and it had dawned to him that the book had nothing to do with fruits or clothing, unless the latter were being removed that is. Apparently Naruto had just happened to read parts where the pervert had used more 'artistic' metaphors to substitute for the actual thing.

Thoughts were running rampart in his mind, he wanted to kill the pervert but what if he had copies? He'd seen that in a movie once… So killing Ero-sennin was out of the question. Even more disturbing were the mental images that the writings had imprinted into his mind, how would he ever be able to face Hinata without being overrun by ecchi and impure images. _-Gah… Hinata-chan, she'd skin me alive if she knew about this. And shut up you stupid fox you are no help at all.-_ The fox was indeed being a pest… she had, after all, witnessed Naruto read the whole thing after initial reluctance and some dozen or so massive nosebleeds.

After a few more moments of pacing, Naruto finally decided on his chosen course of action. He placed the book in the middle of the clearing, walked over the snoring Sannin and kicked him awake and directed his attention towards the book before performing an impressive Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu that completely incinerated the book and much of the surrounding terrain.

Jiraiya's cries were silenced by a menacing glare and even more menacing tone that Naruto used when he said. "I burned that and if I ever see another 'Icha Icha Foxboy'… you will suffer…" The sennin put on a face of falsely accused saint but Naruto would have none of it as he ground out in barely civil tones. "Now I'm going to wash up… make breakfast." He shot one last parting glare at 'St. Jiraiya' before turning around and heading for the river.

On the campsite Jiraiya let out a breath he had been holding before smiling in obvious glee. _-So you read it and obviously liked it brat… I'm not a super-pervert for nothing.-_ He then let out a small laugh and began to think. _-Well your wanton destruction of my literary masterpiece is only a temporary setback… still it's better I don't try and rewrite the beginning right now… hmm might just as well do the Tsunade-the-miko scenes now…-_ He cast his thoughts on to a vision of busty beauty that he saw in his younger days and chuckled out loud as a small drop of blood made its way from his nose. _-Oh yes Tsunade-chan… I can still remember every detail. Photographic memory such a useful trait in my… err ninja profession.-_

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Meanwhile in Konoha a certain silver haired Jounin was looking around in a semi messy apartment. After few hours of working with borderline laziness the said Jounin decided that he really didn't want to move all this stuff by himself and decided that, yes it was enough that he had packed Naruto's underwear and thrown away the hopelessly old milk. Whipping out an orange book he proceeded towards the Hokage tower to order a mission.

The next day not one, but five Kunoichi converged at an address only one of them recognized. Hyuuga Hinata stared the door in wonder. _-We're moving Naruto-kun's things… what's going on here?-_ She was also surprised that Sakura didn't seem to notice that they were in Naruto's apartment… but unsurprisingly, stayed quiet while Kakashi, in a bored tone explained their mission. With a wink that made Hinata blush, Kakashi made her pack the personal stuff that might be left over from previous night while making the rest of the Genin start carrying the boxes to the waiting cart.

Only an hour later the process was reversed at their destination. Hinata's eyes were wide since she certainly recognized the neighbourhood… her own clan house was only a stones throw from the place, in fact it was just next down the street. Not that the others were any better, every one of the kunoichis had her eyes open wide as they looked at the place.

Working in reverse this time the girls quickly emptied the cart into the house and then proceeded as per Kakashi's orders to clean up the place. The task wasn't tremendous as the place was certainly cleaned regularly despite Kakashi's warning that no one had lived in the house for over a decade.

During the cleaning the girls naturally gossiped, or rather Ino and Sakura gossiped and the others listened, with Tenten occasionally offering something to the conversation. Temari wasn't much into gossip and she wasn't local so most of the subjects were totally lost on her anyway. And Hinata, well she just was too shy to take part in the conversation… besides why would she want to gossip about boys when she already had a boyfriend.

Speaking of which, as the subject was on boys Sakura began to tease Ino on how she'd taken on calling a certain blonde Naruto-kun. This caused Hinata to stiffen a little and Tenten who noticed the Hyuuga kunoichi's posture to begin inching away from her. Ino, totally oblivious to her impending doom began to make starry eyes at the mention of Naruto and proclaimed in a loud voice. "Well… why shouldn't I? After all Naruto-kun isn't cold and heartless like some shinobi I know. Besides he's the strongest and the coolest of the Genin, why forehead-girl your Uchiha is so yesterday."

Tenten was now in full retreat and placed herself strategically behind Temari who was now watching things with interest, she had to admit that Naruto was rather pleasant to watch but there was something about that timid pale-eyed girl…

Sakura began berating Ino for being so shallow and then remembered Hinata. "What about Hinata-chan… she's had a crush on Naruto for ages and… uh…" As she spoke Sakura had cast a glance at the girl and decided that hiding behind Ino would be a good idea.

Ino, perplexed at this odd behaviour turned to Hinata with a charming and completely fake smile she reserved to her competitors. _-Heh competition… she's too shy to say anything to Naruto-kun so I'll just swoop in and show him that I'm the best kunoichi around…-_ Her words, that would have completely contradicted her thoughts, dried up in her throat when she met the eyes of her competition.

Hyuuga Hinata was smiling at Ino, a completely friendly and slightly nervous smile. The thing was that her smile never reached her eyes and while seemingly non-threatening it sent shivers running through all the other girls. Hinata simply held Ino's eyes for a moment longer before saying in a quiet and rather timid voice. "Ano… Ino-san, it's no wonder you might feel drawn to Naruto-kun… he is after all a great person." Having said that she added "I just didn't need him to win the finals to know that…"

Ino was nearly frothing from her mouth when Hinata gave her an angelic smile before turning back to her cleaning duties, causing Temari and Tenten recoil away from her and then stammer apologies when she asked if there was something wrong. There was a collective thought among Tenten, Temari and Sakura and that was… _-Scary…-_

Hinata was quite ecstatic, this was the first time ever she had managed to utilize a very old intimidation trick of the Hyuuga's. Most people were unnerved when being stared by pupilless eyes, add to that a small smile where they would expect a frown and keep cool with just hint of killer intent added to the mix, not enough to be noticeable as anything but a slight tingling. According to her teachers it should work better than outright threatening. Oh she had been quite tempted to activate the Byakugan and beat the silly and shallow girl into oblivion but had restrained herself and decided to take a more roundabout route. She smiled to herself, causing Sakura who noticed it flinch. _-Maybe I overdid it… nah at least now they'll stay away from Naruto-kun, my Naruto-kun.-_

Rest of the cleaning was conducted while the conversation stayed in safe topics like the girls asking Temari about Sunakagure and she, in turn asking things about Konoha. They also spent some time marvelling at the house in general…

-------

Few more weeks followed as the pair, along with Akai-chan, searched for the elusive 'Legendary Sucker'. Jiraiya wrote his book and earned bumps on his head for spending Naruto's money on sake and women or for being an absolute pervert. Naruto practiced the Rasengan and was able to perform the third stage Rasengan when using both hands… but, being himself, he kept at it and swore that he would have the one handed version down to pat before they returned to Konoha.

They were following a lead on Tsunade's whereabouts when they came onto something that filled them both with giddy anticipation, a destroyed castle and a panicking villager who was yelling about a demon snake that toppled the castle at once. Still, the pair was too late… but Jiraiya was confident that they could find a definite lead on Tsunade. And as things would have it they accidentally made their way to a local bar where the said blonde was drinking sake with the intent of getting plastered as soon as possible.

When Jiraiya and Naruto made their way towards the seats Naruto really had to wonder if Tsunade really was the same age as Jiraiya, she really didn't look older than twenty… tops. As the two sat down Jiraiya's former team mate demanded, none too politely, what they wanted. The white-haired Sannin wasn't fazed though and replied evenly. "Well… Konohagakure no Sato has issued a request that you become the Godaime Hokage…" Naruto nearly choked on the fish he was eating at this, but Jiraiya ignored him. "Sandaime is…"

This time he was interrupted by Tsunade. "I know… Orochimaru killed him, he told me…" There was a sudden growl that interrupted Tsunade before she could go any further. The boy who had come in with Jiraiya flashed her with a wicked grin before all but growling. "Told you what? That he put Hokage-ojisan to the hospital or what? And by the way… how were his arms?"

Both of the kunoichis were surprised by this statement while Jiraiya simply chuckled at the mention of Orochimaru's arms. Tsunade fixed him with a slight stare and then motioned towards Naruto and asked. "Who's the kid?" At the mention of the boy's name her eyes narrowed and turned to the blonde who was obviously sizing her up while she thought _-So this is the Kyuubi kid…-_

Jiraiya was watching Naruto from the corner of his eye, surprisingly the brat hadn't exploded on the spot when he'd asked Tsunade to become the Hokage. Still he had a job to do, Tsunade to convince, or those morons from the council wouldn't leave him alone. He turned back to his former team mate, who was still looking at Naruto, and said. "So Tsunade… what is your answer? Will you become the Godaime Hokage?"

There was a moment of tense silence before blonde kunoichi snorted. "Impossible… I decline!"

Jiraiya just raised an eyebrow, glanced at Naruto and began counting in his mind. He didn't reach five when Naruto suddenly shot up and began to yell. "I thought we were here to get her to come and check up on the old man, and now Sasuke… And here you go begging her to be the Hokage and she even throws it at your face, Sheesh."

Tsunade just smirked at the scene of Jiraiya explaining to Naruto that the shinobi council had elected her to take over the duties of a Hokage and how he would have nothing to say in the matter. She then decided to pick a little fun on the brat's expense by remarking. "Jiraiya, this gaki seems to be worse than your previous apprentice, in terms of looks, speech and intelligence." Naruto's right eye began to twitch while Kyuubi was roaring in laughter.

The more than slightly intoxicated kunoichi continued. "But even he died quickly… all the Hokages have died, or will die for their village." She didn't notice the twitching escalate but rather continued. "Being a Hokage is a shit job… only a fool would voluntarily be one." There was a loud cracking sound when a piece of the table was crushed in Naruto's grip and surely enough the blonde boy charged over the table towards the older blonde. Or would have had Jiraiya not grabbed the back of his shirt and stopped him with a whisper of "We're in a bar now moron…"

Tsunade was amused at the sight of a short blonde standing on a table… until the blonde opened his mouth that is. Slamming his fist against the palm of his hand the said blonde declared in a loud voice. "I don't care if she's an old woman…" Now it was Tsunade's turn to develop a twitch. "…but I'll forgive no-one who slanders the old man or the Yondaime… I'll kick your ass till you learn some respect you hag."

Jiraiya was barely concealing his mirth while Tsunade was visibly pissed and barely restrained by Shizune who also reminded the older blonde that they were, indeed in a bar. As a result Tsunade regained her composure and stood up to be on eyelevel with Naruto before saying. "All right shrimp… let's take this outside."

They all moved outside with Shizune trying to broker a peace between the enraged blondes and Jiraiya completely enjoying the whole situation. _-Tsunade-chan seems to be a little shaken in her faith to Konoha… well, if anyone can rekindle that flame it's Naruto. The brat just rubs onto everyone in a good way.-_ His musings were interrupted by the now very agitated medic ninja who was trying to prevent, what she surmised as bloodbath. Jiraiya just smiled in a charming way and inquired about Orochimaru's arms.

Shizune was perplexed but described the damage, stating that one arm had been torn completely off while the other had been burned from inside somehow and then inquired exactly why would he want to know about such things and again implored Jiraiya to intervene. The sennin just smirked and pointed at the two blondes facing of at the middle of the street before saying. "Don't underestimate him… he's the most surprising ninja I have ever seen. Tsunade is going to win but I bet that the brat is going to knock some wind out of her sails."

This certainly surprised the black haired ninja and she turned at the two combatants just as Tsunade finished stating that she'd finish Naruto off with one finger. Naruto smirked as his eyes turned blood red and an eerie distortion appeared behind him and then he charged. A quick feint with several shuriken to force opponent to dodge and a quick straightforward blow with a fist didn't quite produce the result Naruto was looking for. Tsunade dodged yes, only she did so twice… neatly ducking under the extended arm and inside Naruto's guard.

The younger blonde's eyes widened as something hit him under the chin, bobbing his head backwards and then forward giving him only the time to mutter "Oh shit." as a fist filled his vision a second before a powerful flick of a finger sent him flying. Incidentally the older blonde's eyes widened when the younger was sent flying and she was suddenly wrenched with the flying boy… held fast by eerie distortions that were all but invisible in the night.

Shizune sweatdropped as the Legendary Tsunade-hime landed unceremoniously in a heap on top of a blonde kid who, by all accounts should be lucky to be alive. Jiraiya, on the other hand, chuckled in his perverted way as he observed Naruto trying to squirm his way from under Tsunade's impressive bosom. Finally the two combatants managed to get clear and stood facing each other. Tsunade, now more wary was staring at Naruto who was pointing a finger at her. Jiraiya collapsed in fits of laughter, Rivulets of sweat began to roll from Shizune and Tsunade began to twitch uncontrollably as Naruto yelled in a voice that was probably heard around half of the town. "AAAH STOP TRYING TO MOLEST ME HENTAI-BABAA!"

**TBC… **(The next chapter will come… dundundundun… read the A/N)

Author's rant

Haha… I promised that this chapter would came faster than the previous one and guess what… it did. I just didn't post it since I'm a mean and evil bastard. That is to say I decided that I would finish the whole story, beta read it, gamma read it and then make few other people to read it as to find the most glaring errors.

However these are trying times my dear readers, enemies are at the gates and all that.

I received several rather abusive emails from certain people who, among other things called me with very bad names and all that. Interestingly I should not write other crap like my recent venture into the Inuyasha fandom that I wrote because I needed to get my mind of this story...

However… this chapter is not out because of people like that. No it's because people who politely, luckily these were the majority, have asked if and when a new chapter would be out… And to an extent to explain exactly why there haven't been updates recently.

As for the next update... I suppose I might put out another chapter if real life keeps me from completing the fic before the end of the summer... if it doens't then the next chap will be up when the fic is finished. Anyway they are seriously coming together whenever I have the motivation and/or free time to write.

But seriously, as for what's going to happen in the fic.

Well…

Icha Icha Foxboy will return with a vengeance…

Jiraiya will get pranked, Tsunade will get pranked and the evil blackmailing Chuunin will get pranked and possibly spanked as well J

Let's just say that the Akatsuki are going to be handled in away I, personally, haven't seen before. And no… they won't chop up Zetsu (The plant guy), dry him and then smoke him with pipes and discover peace and love eternal (Although I haven't seen that before either).

And Kiba is still going to be rejected by hmm… about half a dozen or so girls. Also Kakashi will gain a stalker fangirl… mwahahahahaaaa

Until the next time...


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do **NOT** own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…

"spoken"

"**as spoken by the Kyuubi or the boss summons…"**

_-thought-_

_**-as thought by Kyuubi-**_

**Awakening of the Slumbering Beast**

Chapter 9: The Troublesome Threesome: Ero-sennin, Hentai-babaa and the Snake-freak

The moments the words 'Hentai-Babaa' had left his mouth Naruto realized that yes, he was doomed. He had only a moment to contemplate the feeling of déjà vu, from the times Sakura had the same look on her face, before a fist impacted with his face in an earth shattering force. The short blonde was rocketed into the air and flew some twenty yards before his flight was cut short by a fruit vendor's stall… which, while stoutly built, was completely destroyed by the Jinchuuriki shaped missile. With a groan of finality the remnants of the stall slowly collapsed on top of the boy who lay in the rubble, earning a horrified gasp from Shizune.

It was this gasp from her assistant that brought Tsunade back from her righteous anger trip and into the realization that she had just 'Jiraiya punched' a little kid… annoying little kid but a kid nonetheless. She quickly started moving towards the pile of rubble while fervently praying that the brat was still alive. Jiraiya on the other hand wasn't quite as worried as the two women and began to smile even more widely when the rubble suddenly began to shake as the blonde demon vessel started to wake up from his short 'nap'.

Both Shizune and Tsunade had stopped the moment the pile of rubble began to show first signs of movement, both thinking the same thing... _-There is no way that kid is still conscious…-_ …only to be proven wrong when Naruto, accompanied by a hefty cloud of dust, suddenly sat up, then crawled to his knees and finally stood up, albeit a little shakily. The boy then stuck a finger into his mouth, felt around and finally spat out blood and several teeth before turning to smile, if you could call that a smile as good half of his front teeth were missing, at the startled women. "Neh… obaachan you hit pretty hard for an old lady. You should probably watch your temper though, it's not good for your heart to…"

He got no further when Shizune, who'd quickly collected Naruto's missing biting equipment from the ground, interrupted him and tried tell him to open his mouth so that she could reattach the teeth that had been knocked loose. Naruto simply blinked at the woman and asked. "What for? I mean why would I want the old and used teeth when the new ones will grow back soon enough?" The boy looked totally confused when the mednin launched into an explanation about baby teeth and permanent teeth and all that. The boy simply shrugged and said. "Whatever you say…" Then grinned and started channelling Kyuubi's chakra and feeling the familiar itching as his teeth began to regrow from his jaw. With agonizing slowness, the whole process took maybe two minutes, new teeth grew, poked past his gums and finally were restored in their full glory right in front of the two stunned women… and slightly less stunned Jiraiya who was only impressed. Cracking his knuckles Naruto grinned rather menacingly and said. "Now I believe I said that 'Old woman or no I'll kick your ass till you learn some respect'…"

Tsunade blinked, she'd just handed the kid's ass to him and he was coming back for more. Trying to dissuade the obviously suicidal brat from getting killed she asked. "What the hell do you care anyway? For Sarutobi… or especially for the Yondaime… you of all people should have no reason to care about him. Why is the title of Hokage so important to you?"

Naruto suddenly let go of Kyuubi's chakra and the crimson eyes that were locked onto the older blonde turned deep blue. "Yeah well… if it wasn't for the old man I'd be dead now. I would have starved to death after I was kicked out of the orphanage, or killed by someone or I would simply have offed myself to get away from it all." He snorted. "But the old man see, he's the Hokage of Konoha and it's his duty to look after the people of Konoha even if it kills him. When he had the time he would tell me stories about the previous Hokages, Yondaime in particular…" The boys features hardened. "That's when I decided that I would become Hokage too... so that the villagers would have no other choice but to recognize my existence. And when I found the truth I was devastated you know. My personal idol was the very reason people shunned me… I was angry, mad… I felt betrayed. But I had a new reason to become the Hokage… my precious people." Naruto pointed a finger at the woman and yelled. "And for those people I will become Hokage... It's my dream!" With that he charged towards the now distracted Tsunade while starting to form the second stage of the Rasengan in his right hand.

Tsunade barely registered the furious charge, she was still trying to shake the memories of her little brother and her former lover who also had proclaimed that it was their dream to become the Hokage to protect those important to them. She was snapped out of her reverie when she suddenly registered the beginnings of a technique she hadn't seen in very long time. Casting a frown at Jiraiya she decided to stop the foolishness before it got out of hand, a Genin with such techniques could a hazard to himself as well to others. Naruto let out a startled yelp as Tsunade's index finger impacted against the earth in front of him causing a large fissure to form beneath him and causing him to lose his footing making him plummet face first into the crevice.

Even as Naruto was dragging himself back on the street Tsunade was glaring at Jiraiya. "So… Jiraiya. Was it you who's teaching him the Rasengan. You are a fool, only the Yondaime and you ever were able to master that technique. You really shouldn't do things like that… it only gives fools like him weird notions about being able to become the Hokage."

Tsunade was about to say more but was cut off when something solid grabbed her around her head and brought her face to face with a rather vexed Naruto. Brown eyes met steely blue as the boy all but snarled. "It's no weird notion you old hag… I'll become Hokage even if it kills me. And I'll prove it by mastering the Rasengan in three days."

Tsunade just snorted as Jiraiya intervened at this point and unceremoniously plucked Naruto away from the woman. She then wagged a teasing finger in front of the openly fuming Naruto "Brave words from a brat but… a man's word should never be taken back you know."

The blue eyes hardened again with a determined glint while Naruto all but ground out. "I never go back on my word. That's my Nindo."

Jiraiya smiled inwardly, there was a fleeting emotion that was barely visible on the young face of the 50 year old blonde Sannin… emotion that was ruthlessly crushed and replaced by a mask of cynical gambler. Tsunade smirked victoriously at the boy and said. "Three days huh? Well I'll be a good sport and give you a week. If you can master the Rasengan in a week I'll openly acknowledge that you have what it takes to become a Hokage… heck I'll help you and give you a free week of training if you want. I'll even sweeten the deal by throwing in this here necklace…" She shook a necklace that was hanging loosely, and quite provocatively, between her ample breasts. She then jingled Naruto's gama-chan purse that the boy had managed to fill with a little luck, and which she had 'procured' sometime during their scuffle. "If you can't do it however… I'll just take all your money."

Naruto nodded mutely in agreement, got pissed when Tsunade snorted victoriously and was about to do a two-handed Rasengan when Jiraiya grabbed him and shook him slightly. "Master the jutsu gaki… emphasis on the mastering part." He tossed Naruto next to Shizune and pointed the two. "You two get rooms at a hotel. Me and Tsunade have some catching up to do… don't we?" He pointedly ignored glares from both of the blondes and cast a questioning look at the older of them. Tsunade simply shrugged and gave a slight nod to Shizune who grabbed Naruto and began to drag the fuming boy towards the nearest hotel.

-----

Tsunade and Jiraiya had downed their first cups and exchanged some small talk. Jiraiya poured some more sake before saying. "You know you are going to lose your bet?" Tsunade just snorted and downed a small cup causing the white haired man to smile slyly. "If I wasn't a complete gentleman I'd suggest a little bet on the outcome with you going on a date with me as the stake but…"

At that Tsunade actually laughed. "A gentleman? You? Hahaha Jiraiya you old pervert… fine a date says he can't do it. And when he can't then you'll have to take me to gambling for a hmm… week."

Jiraiya took another sip of sake before saying. "You sure?" After seeing a confirming nod he smiled rather saucily. "Don't say I didn't warn you then. By the way… how were Orochimaru-teme's arms."

Tsunade smiled rather grimly. "Sarutobi-sensei went down fighting it seems. Orochimaru's right arm was cut off from the elbow… judging by the damage I'd say Enma-sama took a bite out of him. The left hand was burned inside out…"

Jiraiya smiled smugly before offering some more sake. "Yeah… Sarutobi was able to knock his right hand out because a certain blonde brat burned the teme's hand in the forest of death." Tsunade actually caught a coughing fit as she accidentally inhaled some sake. Jiraiya smirked a bit more. "You know… he even won the Chuunin exams. After that he ripped an enemy Jonin in pieces during the fighting, though he went a little berserk while doing that…"

The blonde Sannin was now eyeing him warily. "Is the nine-tails getting loose?" She asked causing Jiraiya to snort.

"You think I'd let him run loose if there was a possibility that the seal would break. The seal has finally become active and is draining the demon into the boy…" The old man drained his cup and filled it again. "It would seem that our dear team mate Orochimaru had his hand in the Kyuubi's attack as her last memories before being awakened recently were being summoned to this plane and then being hit by a jutsu that made her insane with pain by a pale, dark haired and yellow eyed guy." He shrugged. "Whichever way it is the nine-tails seems to be rather bent on vengeance… to the point that she has given part of herself to the seal and to Naruto."

Tsunade just gaped and then mechanically drained her own cup before suddenly smiling again. "That changes nothing though… I'll admit that I might have underestimated the gaki but nine-tails or no, there's no way he'll be able to perform the Rasengan by the end of the week."

Jiraiya shrugged at this and waited until Tsunade sipped some more sake before saying. "Oh the boy can already do the Rasengan…" Smirking he watched as Tsunade recovered from another coughing fit and the sake vendor dried himself with a look of disgust and continued. "Lets see… it took him a few hours to get the first stage, few days to get the second and about three weeks to get the third stage." Being the 'gentleman' he poured some more sake to Tsunade. "But mastering the jutsu… well… he'll do it or get himself totally banged up trying to. He would be dead from chakra exhaustion a hundred times over already were it not for the nine-tails but hey… if you have a near infinite well of chakra in your belly why not use it." With smile he rose and tossed some money on the counter before leaving the stunned female Sannin in the stand… Jiraiya began to hum as stream of rather caustic curses began to rip through the night air.

-----

Naruto was busy poking his teeth in front of the mirror. He'd had his teeth knocked off on an occasion but this whole new thing with the seal and the Kyuubi made them grow far faster than ever before. Usually it had taken a night's sleep to grow a replacement set… in wonder he channelled some chakra into his teeth and made them grow into fangs, and making Kyuubi laugh a bit at his antics. He was busy brushing his teeth when there was a demanding knock on the door. Grumbling to himself he quickly spat out the toothpaste and hastily rinsed his mouth some water before answering the door. He nodded in recognition of Tsunade's assistant Shizune.

She looked decidedly uncomfortable as if she was doing something wrong. "Look Naruto-kun I… please don't think that Tsunade-sama is a bad person. She… she used to." When Naruto, who was still slightly pissed at the 'old hag', snorted she began to yell. "You don't know a thing about her so don't act like you do…" At this point the dark haired woman noticed slight tensing of the boy's muscles and calmed down. "I… sorry for yelling it's just that she wasn't always like this. She used to be more like you I guess until…" Shizune shook her head as Naruto cocked his head curiously as if waiting for her to continue.

The story of Nawaki, Tsunade's brother and Dan, her lover and Shizune's uncle shocked Naruto to the core. Where he'd been rather vexed with the blonde he was now more understanding. Tsunade had lost the only thing Naruto held dear in life, her precious people. He did, however, chuckle when Shizune mentioned that Tsunade's necklace was cursed and then proceeded to explain. "Shizune-neechan if I believed in curses I'd be dead a thousand times over." He then patted the woman on the shoulder. "I think I can understand obaachan a little better now… still I'll kick her ass if she doesn't apologize for insulting the old man or Yondaime."

The mednin blinked at the boy who continued. "You think she's the only one who's had it though? True I've never lost anyone I care about… well there's the old man but he isn't dead and obaachan better damn well fix him up. See until recently I've never even had anyone to care for…" Seeing the uncomprehending look in Shizune's eyes he peered at her curiously. "Moshimoshi? Hello? Uzumaki Naruto here? You are from Konoha right?"

Shizune just blinked, there was something skirting at the edges of her memory but she wasn't quite able to remember what. Naruto on the other hand just smiled. "Eh… well let's elaborate. The day I was born the Yondaime Hokage sort of sealed the Nine-tailed demon fox into me… you know I'm that guy. And as the wonderful result I've been having sort of a shitty fourteen years of life so far." Naruto scowled. "You know the kind of being tossed to the street from the orphanage when I was seven, being driven out of pretty much every shop, playground and so on… The joys of living a life of the Jinchuuriki."

The woman gasped and tried to think about something to say but only a weak "Eh… Naruto-kun... where are you going?" came out.

The boy was already half out the window when he glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to train… look after Akai-chan for me will ya." With a burst of speed he was out of the window and out of sight before Shizune even made it to the window.

The mednin scratched the back of her head before wondering out loud "Who is Akai-chan anyway?" only whirl around when a soft voice said. "Ah that would be me I think…" Shizune blinked several times before squealing "Kawaiii…" and cradling the small fox that had apparently left for her care.

None of them noticed Tsunade who was quietly weeping on a nearby ledge.

-----

Few days passed and Tsunade and Jiraiya seemed to be avoiding each other. It was on the third day that Tsunade heard a loud "Kuso!" coming from a ramen stand. She cocked an eyebrow at the familiar voice and peered though the curtain, her eyes widened as she watched Naruto trying to eat with hands that were shaking so badly he was barely able to hold the chopsticks… and it wasn't just his right hand but both, forcing the boy to slurp the ramen directly from the bowl. The Sannin frowned _-By the gods… how hard has he been pushing… hard can you push to make the coils in your hands to clamp up that bad.-_

After Naruto had suffered the indignity of being unable to consume ramen rapidly enough he had paid his two bowls and moved down the street to an okonomiyaki stall were he'd ordered a dozen stamina okonomiyakis to go and proceeded back to his training spot with the nourishment that wouldn't require as much manual dexterity as eating ramen for instance. Unbeknownst to the young blonde he was quietly shadowed by Tsunade who was feeling more than slightly curious about the fierce determination that seemed to mark this newest Hokage-wannabe.

Back at his clearing there were about half a dozen or so trees that had been partially drilled through with what Tsunade surmised were Naruto's attempts with the Rasengan. She frowned slightly and almost stepped from her hiding place as Naruto once again began to force chakra into his hands that were shaking like a leaf in a whirlwind. With a loud yell of frustration Naruto gave up and whacked his hands together while cursing profanely before sighing and taking a deep breath. Tsunade's eyes narrowed as the boy then walked to a nearby stream, stepped on its surface and carefully, with his shaking hands, deposited a leaf on his forehead. _-He's combining water walking and the academy leaf floating technique to train his chakra control while waiting for his hands to recuperate.-_ That's when she noticed something odd that she'd first dismissed as a trick of the light… a tendril of blue fire snaked randomly around Naruto's body as he stoically stood in the middle of the stream while floating a single leaf some ten centimetres above his forehead.

Silently the woman continued her vigil, only to be astonished at the sheer stubbornness of the boy. After a few hours Naruto had barely moved and was still standing in middle of the stream with only the profuse sweating as proof of his exertion. And as the boy finally moved to the riverbank he simply dunked himself into the icy stream, swam back to the shore and examined his hands for a few short moments. With a grunt of determination the boy then began to form a Rasengan in his right hand… and then in the left as his right hand began to shake after half dozen intense tries… and then the process of water walking began anew. Only several hours after sundown did Naruto finally collapse leaving Tsunade to wrestle with her own consciousness in the dark…

Next morning when Naruto woke up he was tugged into a green coat that definitely wasn't his. Carefully the boy surveyed his surroundings before sniffing the coat and thinking. _-Second thoughts Tsunade-baachan?-_ Then the boy flexed his fingers and smiled. "Yosh! Time to train! I'll be like the spirit of youth." Then he blinked and thought. _-Crap… that was a bit too much like Lee.-_ Regardless he devoured what was left of his Okonomiyaki, thought briefly about a certain Hyuuga girl before standing up and again focusing chakra to his palm. _-Three more days to get this damn technique. I won't lose… I can't lose… even if just for the old hag's sake-_

The week drew close as Shizune, who had gotten rather anxious about the young boy, went looking for him. Akai-chan led the mednin unerringly to the clearing where they both stopped to survey what appeared to be a battle zone. Stones had been overturned, trees blasted into splinters with only stumps remaining as evidence that they had ever existed. Amidst all that carnage Naruto was snoring away, carefully tugged into a familiar green overcoat. Shizune's eyes widened as she muttered. "Tsunade-sama…" With only a small fox as a witness she gently lifted the exhausted teenager and headed out of the demolished clearing.

-----

Naruto's soft transition from sleep to full wakefulness was interrupted as his sleep addled brain registered the fact that he was laying on a soft surface. With a yelp he bolted upright and tossed the bedding off himself… along with startled Ton-ton and very irritated Akai. The boy blinked a couple of times before hopping out of the bed only to come face to face with a very perplexed Shizune. Naruto simply dismissed her startled questions about his seemingly miraculous recovery from severe chakra exhaustion and coil overcharging with a slight wave of his hand and said. "A nights rest is all it takes when you got a demon tugged away in your gut." Then he looked about and asked. "Where's the old hag anyway… she's due some serious attitude adjustment today."

With a sudden realization that she was late Shizune jumped towards the window and yelled. "You stay here Naruto-kun." Only to be stopped when a kunai imbedded itself into the windowpane right in front of her face." There was Jiraiya, Mt. Myobukugama's holy master Sennin, looking decidedly miserable as he was barely able to lean against the wall.

Naruto naturally took in his sensei's sorry state and started yelling. "Aaaah Ero-sennin… what the hell are you doing all wasted? I thought that a boozehound like you could at least fight off a hangover." When Jiraiya managed to croak out that Tsunade had poisoned him the blonde exploded again. "You've got to be the lamest Sannin around… all you do is talk all day about how great you are and there you go and get drugged. Sheesh…" Then he suddenly stiffened and sniffed the air tentatively. "We've got company… I know this guy too… that guy from the exams who was working with Orochimaru-teme… Yakushi Kabuto."

There was a slight scuffle of movement as the traitor took off after noticing that he'd been detected. Jiraiya only nodded towards Naruto in appreciation before turning to Shizune. "Now what did Orochimaru offer… whatever it is we need to stop this now." The dark haired woman only nodded and said "There isn't much time, I'll explain on the way."

They were still some ways from the castle where the meeting was taking place when a massive shock shook the trees Naruto, Shizune and Jiraiya were using to speed towards the meeting place. Shizune and Jiraiya both sighed in relief when Naruto commented. "Sounds like obaachan said 'NO!'" Moments later there was another heavy crashing sound followed by an ominous silence. Pressing forward even faster the trio soon arrived at the site of the recent battle. Jiraiya only laughed out loud at the sight and was about to say something when Naruto suddenly bolted forward on all fours, stopped to sniff at the top of the wall and bounded forward. "Oi Ero-sennin… they went this way."

Unfortunately they were somewhat delayed since shinobi don't walk exactly on the ground but rather favour moving forward with leaps and bounds. As such any change in direction threw Naruto, Ton-ton and Akai off since they had to reacquire the trail whenever there was a change in direction. Naruto just cursed "The wind has taken all the lingering smells off from the air so shut up and let us do this." at Jiraiya who was trying to make them go faster. Regardless they found the fighting soon enough as Naruto's and Akai's keen ears began to pick up the sounds of ground being demolished.

-----

No sooner than they made their entry to the battlefield did Naruto come face to face with the traitor Kabuto and saw the other traitor Orochimaru, this caused his and Kyuubi's anger to boil, standing some distance behind him. That was when Tsunade decided to have another go at Kabuto only to be immobilized when Kabuto slashed his own wrist spraying her with the blood and knocking her back with a well placed blow. The Kyuubi growled in Naruto's mind as the boy's nose twitched at the curious smell of blood. **"Careful kit… this blood reeks of demons. There is a lesser yokai somewhere not too far removed in this one's family. When you hit him make it count… he might be able to regenerate almost as quickly as you do."**

Naruto acknowledged the demon's warning and glared at Kabuto who smirked at him. "You think that making scary faces is going to faze me? Naruto-kun you are nothing more than a cute little Genin in the wrong place at the wrong time. You rely on that monster that is in you but still here you are nothing but an insect that will be crushed if it makes too much noise." The young man then pushed his glasses higher up his nose and continued. "If you try something… I'll…"

Naruto just smiled impudently "Yeah, yeah four eyes… You'll kill me in a most horribly terribly excruciating manner conceivable. And before you go talking about monsters you really should check your family tree… half-breed." The boy grinned as Kabuto's eyes widened. "So why are you working for that bastard anyway?" He then made a rude gesture. "Maybe it's because you like boys hmm? I mean Ero-sennin here swears that Orochimaru-teme has a thing for sweee-eet little boys… now that I think about it he was all over Sasuke-teme too." He shrugged at Kabuto who was now developing a slight twitch. "Who am I to judge though… I mean what you and him do at night is your business but hey." He then pointed an accusing finger at the older boy before saying. "Not that it matters because you betrayed the Leaf and for that I'll kill you!"

Ignoring Jiraiya's shout Naruto burst forward and created several Kage Bunshins on the run. He was following Kyuubi's advice and hadn't negated his weights in his initial rush. Four clones surrounded Kabuto as the real Naruto jumped into air and drew in a breath while flashing through several hand seals before yelling 'Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu' and breathing several small fireballs towards the Otonin. Kabuto was surprised but far from being in danger. He swiftly sidestepped and grabbed one clone with his good hand and used it as a shield as he quickly moved behind another clone which he destroyed with a well placed kick while the Katon jutsu minced one more clone that was no in the line of fire. Naruto sniffed in annoyance and moved in an attempt to get a blow to Kabuto's right side that was left vulnerable due to the rather deep cut in his arm.

The blow connected but so did Kabuto's and both combatants were sent flying back to their respective directions. Naruto landed rather softly as he was caught from flight by Shizune who used the opportunity to spit several needles towards the momentarily distracted Sound spy and actually managed to imbed both needles securely into his thigh. Kabuto who was still reeling from Naruto's blow winced. _-Shit… those are probably poisoned too… I've got to hurry.-_

As the eye-glassed boy retreated next to his master and began to heal himself Jiraiya turned to Naruto and Shizune. "Shizune you take care of the guy in the glasses… I'll deal with Orochimaru." He only briefly glanced at Naruto who was nearly jumping out of skin. "And before you even suggest it brat you will be guarding Tsunade, Ton-ton and your cute little pet fox. These guys are whole another level and while both of them underestimated you at first they won't make the same mistake again. Even that glasses guy is probably at Kakashi's level."

Naruto was about to object but a stern look from Jiraiya quieted him. He huffed instead and acknowledged the old man with a slight nod before making several clones and moving into a better position to cover the older blonde. Or that was his intention when Orochimaru, with Kabuto's aid summoned two huge snakes and Jiraiya, still in his debilitated state, summoned Gamakichi instead of Gamabunta. Naruto would have laughed out loud had it not been such a serious situation… as things stood he simply rushed next to Jiraiya, bit his thumb and flashed through the required hand seals while pulling out Kyuubi's chakra. There was a yell of 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu' as a huge cloud of smoke obscured both Jiraiya and Naruto from view.

Orochimaru cursed as the huge pipe smoking toad yelled. **"Orochimaru… you bastard. Where's your little pet Manda… I have a bone to pick with that little serpent and I'm in a need of a snakeskin wallet."** Gamabunta then turned his eyes upwards as there was a slight scuffle on top of his head when Jiraiya without much ceremony tossed Naruto down and yelled. "I'll take care of Orochimaru-teme you look after Tsunade."

There was a wailing yell of "Daaaaammmnnn you Ero-sennin… you could have said 'Thanks' at the least.." as Naruto pretty much rolled down Gamabunta's back. The boss toad chuckled **"Ha Jiraiya I see the brat is here too… you owe me one heck of an explanation after we stomp that bastard."**

On top of the two snakes there was another kind of conversation going on. "Kabuto you kill that assistant woman and that damn Kyuubi brat while I delay that old fool and Gamabunta… As long as Tsunade stays out of the fight we should have no trouble even with that damnable toad." Kabuto simply pushed his glasses up again and nodded before leaping down to engage Shizune.

-----

The snakes lunged forward and Gamabunta bellowed as he met the slithering mass head on. Unfortunately for those on the ground the clash of these massive summons was akin to a natural disaster. Gamabunta had the advantage of mass both relatively, he was the gama-oyabun after all, and literally as one huge toad did outweigh two massive snakes. However the snakes had a two-to-one advantage which they, under Orochimaru's directions, used for the full extent. Jiraiya did try to level the playing field with his 'Doton: Yomi Numa' (Swamp of the Underworld) but due to the drug Tsunade had slipped him he only managed to slow down one of the snakes.

Incidentally Jiraiya didn't do any favours to those on the ground as the snake caught in the large swamp trashed about and would have flattened Tsunade had not Naruto, who was still somewhat disoriented from his rapid descent from Gamabunta's back, sprang forward and tossed the woman at Shizune in a desperate attempt to save her life. The gamble worked, but with a price. Naruto was hit by the snake's tail and got slammed hard into the ground while Shizune was distracted from her fight with Kabuto.

As a result the dark eyed woman, who landed rather badly in an attempt to keep her mentor from harm, got hit several times by Kabuto. The traitor smirked as Tsunade's assistant spat out a mouthful of blood while her mentor looked on, in her blood induced shock. _-Help her! Help her!-_ Was the only thought running through Tsunade's mind as she tried to fight the effects of hemophobia. She looked over to Shizune, being brutally toyed by the eye-glassed traitor. From there her eyes drifted to Naruto, who was laying in a shallow depression his impact with the ground had caused. One of the legendary Sannin tried to move, she tried to will her body to strike at the smirking menace that was torturing her own assistant… and soon would torture the boy whose spirit so resembled that of her own brother and that of her lover.

This internal struggle brought attention to her though. Kabuto, albeit carefully, closed in on the mentally crippled Sannin. The young man smirked before saying. "Ah… so you are truly so weak Tsunade-sama… and to think I once looked up to you. Even the now deceased Kyuubi brat showed more guts. I hear he didn't freeze on the mere sight of blood after all. With that, and a snort of disdain, the traitorous shinobi slammed his fist to Tsunade's face. "So weak… I expected more from one of the legendary Sannin… more so from the legendary Tsunade-hime, the queen of medics." Kabuto sneered as he kicked at the downed woman at the ribs and then hit her on the face to break her features once and for all, only the blow was never delivered.

Tsunade was still in a blood induced shock, she tried to break out when her apprentice and companion Shizune was being beaten… she tried to break out when she, herself, was beaten. She could clearly see each and every blow that landed, she was also burned by the realization that were it not for her hemophobia, that she could stop each and every one of the blows directed at her student… She winced, expecting a blow that never landed. Tsunade blinked… there in front of her eyes was Kabotu's fist, being held by a clawed hand… That was when she recognized the voice that cheerily asked. "Oi Obaachan… you need any help?"

The spy sneered and brought his other hand in a low sweep and batted away both the Sannin and the Genin. Kabotu sneered again as he faced Naruto. "Naruto-kun… seriously you are a nuisance and I will kill you. You should contemplate on the wisdom of your actions… A mere Genin is not expected to make tactical decisions but as he advances in rank he'll be forced to evaluate the conditions on a battlefield. And as you aspire to become a Hokage you should start now by realizing that your opponent overpowers you in every aspect and as such should understand that your dream will die here with you unless you run… run away far and fast without turning to look back."

Naruto, who had been checking on Tsunade and Shizune, suddenly glared at the traitor with his crimson eyes while snarling to reveal fangs glistening with saliva. If the traitor was intimidated, however, he didn't show it. Kabuto once more corrected the position of his glasses and sneered. "And those looks… they will get you killed even if you survive the day. Besides with that dislocated shoulder of yours…" The blonde shook his head ruefully at this making the glassed boy laugh out. "Don't try to fool me Naruto-kun… I am after expert in medical ninjitsu. Your shoulder is unusable and judging by the bloody foam that seeps from your mouth every now and then I'd say your ribs are broken and pressing against your lung… This is the very reason you are so different from Sasuke-kun… he, unlike you, has natural talent and the brains to realize when he should cut his losses and run… you on the other hand are a no-talent bum who's relying on the nine-tails to get him out of trouble."

Naruto on the other hand just gave a one-sided shrug before saying. "My shoulder isn't dislocated… if it was I'd be able to pop it right back in… Been there and done that you know." He seemed to stare into the distance for a moment. "It was my tenth birthday, and the tenth anniversary of Kyuubi's defeat, when a bunch of drunken villagers decided to teach 'the bastard fox' a lesson. I tried to go to the hospital afterwards but the lady in the reception threw me out and threatened me with fines if I came back with my head still attached to my shoulders... good thing I saw this movie where the guy popped his shoulder back into its socket." He then poked the right side of his torso before wincing. "I think you are right about the ribs though… so a broken shoulder, few broken ribs and a badly turned ankle. Not a very fair fight but since I'm such a good sport I'll give you a chance to run…"

Tsunade gasped and tried to say something when Kabuto all but screamed. "That's it brat I'll kill you… I'll do it slow so that you will see the true meaning of suffering."

As the traitorous mednin closed in on Naruto the boy spoke to the woman behind him. "Oi Tsunade-obaachan… hope you got that necklace handy because you are going to lose our bet…"

Meanwhile Gamabunta had managed to trap one of the snakes under his webbed foot and had just brought his tanto down on its neck, decapitating the snake and causing it to vanish in a burst of smoke. The two Sannin were exchanging blow for a blow as Jiraiya's drugged state was offset by Orochimaru's lack of arms. The two men were eyeing each other when Kabuto's scream drew their attention. Orochimaru chuckled as his minion charged towards the obviously hurt Naruto… soon however the chuckle died on his lips and it was Jiraiya's turn to chuckle.

Naruto prepared to meet the charge head on as he pointedly ignored Tsunade's pleas to stop, runaway or save himself. His crimson eyes were a sure sign that his system was brimming with Kyuubi's chakra, enhancing muscles, senses and flooding his body with endorphins. Kabuto smiled victoriously as his blue glowing hand began to drive towards Naruto's left and disabled side… a smile that faded as the hand was grabbed by an ethereal tail composed of chakra. His eyes widened as they met Naruto's crimson ones as the boy grinned menacingly while using another tail to grab Kabuto's other hand.

Kabuto was quick to compose himself after a third tail slammed against his head… the blow didn't even daze him much. "So Naruto-kun… this is how you were able to defeat the Hyuuga during the finals. Chakra tails, and here I thought you simply used Kyuubi's chakra to keep him in the air. Still… what are you going to do now? You can't beat me unconscious nor can you strangle me effectively… and you are losing strength rapidly due to your injuries." He then leered. "And the best part is that you can't even form seals for any jutsus because your left hand is unusable."

The blonde Jinchuuriki spat out some bloody froth before offering a fanged grin. "Just to prove you wrong I'll show a jutsu that was created by the Yondaime-Hokage… it was one of his prized jutsus." He then turned his head to Tsunade. "Oi baachan you looking?" Kabuto's smile faded slightly as the third tail moved around his upper torso… it faded completely as Naruto held out his hand and a small rotation of chakra began to form on it… the rotation then grew in speed and in force causing violent buffeting of winds around the boy until a sphere of spinning chakra was formed in his hand. Naruto smirked at Kabuto's stunned expression. "You were saying something about no talent and inability to use jutsus."

With that the boy lunged forward while using his tails to pull Kabuto towards him and yelled out "Rasengan" before thrusting the glowing ball of chakra into the traitor's gut. Naruto's opponent had, however, been preparing since the first swirl of chakra had appeared and had begun to gather his own chakra into his abdomen… the two chakras fought for dominance but inevitably Naruto's Kyuubi boosted chakra won and the Rasengan began to drill into Kabuto's stomach. The spy's eyes widened suddenly as Naruto's right hand began to burn and tendrils of the blue flame were sucked into the spinning ball… he had been certain that his regenerative abilities would let him take any technique but with fire…

Kabuto screamed in pain as the now flaming ball of swirling chakra penetrated into his stomach, a scream that suddenly became a gurgle as he spat out blue, flaming blood. Naruto winced at the sight but kept his concentration on the blue fire that was eating the traitor from inside and showed his hand further into Kabuto. With a look of disgust he wrenched his hand back away letting the Rasengan dissolve as Orochimaru's henchman fell to his knees and then sideways to the ground. With a look of determination the blonde kept the fire going until the back of Kabuto's clothing began to blacken.

Tsunade was watching in terrified fascination as Kabuto got hit by a stable Rasengan and as the Rasengan itself began to burn with the blue flames Naruto somehow summoned. She couldn't turn her eyes away as the dying man began to cough out burning blood that continued to burn on the ground. Finally when Naruto let go of the fire it winked out of existence and the blonde staggered backwards before retching loudly. The retching turned into a fit of coughing after which Naruto spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed right next to Tsunade, who suddenly had a flashback from a rainy clearing where her fiancé also spat out some blood before dying in her hands. With a strangled yell of "Nooo" the blonde woman flashed through hand seals and whispered "Shosen Jutsu" (Mystical Palm Technique) while placing her blue glowing hands on Naruto's chest. The blonde Sannin furiously pumped chakra into her technique while yelling. "Don't you die on me you damn brat… I'll beat the living shit out of you if you do."

There was a slight twitch before Naruto opened one eye and glared at the woman. "Keep it down will you baachan, I'm trying to recover here." Then the boy winked and said. "Besides it's not like I can die before I become the Hokage, get your necklace and get that week worth of training you owe me." Tsunade just let out a choked mixture of crying and laughing and continued to fix the tear in Naruto's lung…

-----

Orochimaru wasn't indeed smiling as Jiraiya commented. "Ooh I bet that hurt… looks like your little boy-toy is down for good." The perverted Sennin turned at his former team mate before smiling grimly. "Not that you really need to dwell on it… I'm sure you'll reunite with him in the hell I'll send you in a moment."

Had Jiraiya know what was going through Orochimaru's mind he wouldn't have wasted time on gloating. The snake Sannin narrowed his eyes as Tsunade began fervently heal the boy. _-That damn brat… not only does he have Kyuubi's power but that bastard Yondaime's abilities it seems. Even the Sharingan is powerless against the 'Hiraishin'… I will have to kill him now or he'll become a nuisance… too bad that I can't use his body because of the Kyuubi.-_

With that he sped past the now startled Jiraiya while condescendingly yelling. "I'll finish you later fool… but first I'll get rid of the brat before he reaches his full potential." Jiraiya cursed and launched after his former team mate, only to be grabbed by Orochimaru's freakishly elongated tongue and smashed to the ground below.

Tsunade on the other hand took a deep breath and relaxed. She'd healed the damaged lung and temporarily fixed the ribs. The boy needed a lot more work but the immediate danger had passed… his shoulder needed fixing and the ribs needed to be set and bandaged… not to mention that the brat needed about a week in bed to recover from extreme chakra exhaustion. She smirked at Naruto who was staring at the clouds before unclasping her necklace and slipping it around Naruto's neck. The boy raised the necklace and stared at it before saying. "Ero-sennin said this is valuable enough to buy several mountains… I've been thinking… maybe mountains of ramen?" Before sighing in a content tone as he began a nice daydream about mountains of ramen.

The dream was rudely interrupted as Akai yapped a warning about Orochimaru's attack. Naruto winced as he sat upright only to be pushed aside by Tsunade who tried to throw herself in way of Orochimaru and his Kusanagi sword that was being pushed out of his mouth by a snake. Blood splattered everywhere as Tsunade cursed, she'd been pulled aside by a chakra tail and now Naruto stood there, with the long blade protruding from his back. Orochimaru smirked as the Jinchuuriki tried to form another Rasengan, only to fail when the legendary sword twisted slightly in his abdomen. The smirk turned sour, though when there were two distinct flares of killing intent… one was from Tsunade who was stalking him with death in her eyes, the other was coming from the boy who was now leaking out crimson chakra in alarming quantities… in fact the wound began to close around the sword even as Orochimaru watched. Only thing that saved his head was a swift pulling back, even so the Sannin didn't escape without damage as powerful claws tore their way along his cheek and cleanly ripped off his lower jaw… along with severing the snake that was still holding the Kusanagi no Tsurugi. The snake user had no time to dwell on the pain as the full force of Tsunade's fury slammed into his already abused face and sent him flying good fifty meters backwards.

Blinking the daze out of his eyes Orochimaru noted that his imminent death was postponed as Tsunade had immediately turned her focus on Naruto, who had taken several staggering steps before collapsing to the ground. A short victorious smile, or what would have been a smile had Orochimaru still had his jaw, vanished as he noticed Jiraiya slowly stalking him while Gamabunta demolished his last remaining snake summon. Cursing to himself Orochimaru decided that if he wanted to continue his existence he'd have to escape… with a hate filled glare the snake Sannin seemed to sink into the ground leaving a cursing Jiraiya behind.

-----

Shizune had woken only moments before and had been rather stunned by spectacle of Naruto ripping off Orochimaru's jaw. When the blonde collapsed however, the medic in her took over and the dark haired woman started towards the boy completely ignoring her own wounds, which were serious but not life threatening. Tsunade was already working on the boy and barely acknowledged her assistant as the two began a desperate battle to save the boy's life… not only was the wound severe but there was a great probability that Orochimaru had poisoned the blade.

As Jiraiya made his way to the two mednins and his downed apprentice he simply asked. "Is he going to be all right?"

Tsunade didn't even look up from her healing as she simply answered. "The brat is going to be the Rokudaime Hokage… he can't die on some god forsaken field in middle of nowhere."

Jiraiya suppressed the sudden urge to laugh and nodded. "Well… the teme ran away." He then motioned Akai. "Come on furball… I need your nose, we'll find that bastard and string him up for this."

It was almost an hour later when a grim looking Jiraiya returned. He answered Tsunade's question with a slight shake of his head and looked over to see Naruto being closely monitored by Shizune. The blonde Sannin made a face before summoning a slug, on which she gently deposited the unconscious Naruto. As the three adults, two pets and the summon carrying Naruto made their way towards the town and their hotel Tsunade said. "He'll live… it was a close thing for a while but there was something, probably the nine-tails, that aided our efforts. The wound is already completely closed and we fixed his shoulder… we still probably need to set it better once we get him into a bed. Then there are signs of prolonged chakra exhaustion… I'd say he's been running on pure determination for the past few days."

Jiraiya just shrugged while turning the Kusanagi sword in his hands. As they finally arrived at the hotel he ignored the two medics who were making sure Naruto was resting comfortably and began to draw a complex pattern of seals on the floor. It was only when Jiraiya imbedded the Kusanagi sword in middle of the pattern that Tsunade asked. "Jiraiya, what are you doing?"

The white haired Sannin just ignored the question as he flashed through several hand seals before placing both hands on the pattern. The Kusanagi began to flash as the sealing pattern began to get sucked into the sword and a sheath began to appear around the blade. As the sealing was complete the sheathed sword fell to the floor with a clatter. Jiraiya turned to Tsunade and smirked. "I found Orochimaru's corpse… or as my little furry friend there said it was the corpse but it wasn't. There were also some shackles and smell trail of few other people on a clearing not too far from our little team get together. Akai-chan here said that the corpse didn't have a 'snake' smell while the shackled person's scent had changed to more snakelike."

Tsunade frowned at this as Jiraiya continued. "As for the sealing… Well it should make it a little harder for our dear friend to summon his kitchen knife again. As long as the sword remains in the sheath it can't be summoned unless you undo the sealing pattern I used… and since no-one other than me knows that particular pattern…" He then craned his neck towards Naruto. "So… if he's alright you think either of you could fix me up. I sort of busted a rib and my leg is broken I think."

Shizune smirked as Tsunade simply punched Jiraiya on the head and yelled. "You idiot… why didn't you say something before and went on running around with a broken leg." She then checked Jiraiya's swirly eyes and commented with an evil laugh. "Well my special Jiraiya sedation methods still work it seems."

Naruto, for his part, was being yelled at. In the little corner of his mind where Kyuubi resided the demon fox was somewhat irritated. **"You moron… getting in front of that sword like that. Are you trying to get us killed?"** Unfortunately for the demon fox her host was also somewhat miffed as the boy yelled back. "You are one to talk… you kept pushing more chakra through the seal than I needed… I was borderline berserk the whole time."

As a result the two settled for a glaring contest that lasted for some time until they both grinned almost simultaneously. **"Ah what the hell kit. It's not like we died or anything, just try not to do that again. The big breasted woman is mending your shoulder right now so we might just as well rest and enjoy ourselves."**

Naruto blinked in surprise. "You can actually tell what's happening on the outside?" Then it was Kyuubi's turn to blink. **"You mean to tell me you can't?"** When Naruto shook his head the fox grinned. **"Well I've been thinking that you are ready to start learning about the pranking… err practical uses of illusions, specifically kitsune illusions. But I think we'll start with expanding your awareness somewhat… now sit down and try to relax."**

-----

For the second time in as many days Naruto's transition from sleep to full wakefulness was interrupted by the realization that he was sleeping on something soft. With a startled gasp he once again sat upright only to cause Shizune to stumble from her chair. The dark haired mednin's eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she mumbled something along the lines of "Impossible recovery… even with the nine-tails."

Naruto didn't have time to comment on this as he was suddenly smothered in a fierce hug, from which he only got out after some severe struggling. He was then smacked on the side of the head rather savagely as the now enraged Tsunade was towering over him. "You stupid, stupid brat… Don't you ever dare to do something as foolish as going against someone like Orochimaru alone. You could, YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!!! If it wasn't for the nine-tails…"

Naruto on the other hand was getting angry and stood up on the bed just to be on the eyelevel with the ranting Sannin. Pointing an accusatory finger at Tsunade he yelled. "OI! You're one to talk you hypocritical old hag… going against Orochimaru and his butt-buddy with your irrational homophobia."

"Homophobia?" Asked both mednins at the same time.

Naruto waved his hand in the air. "Yeah you know… fear of blood." He was somewhat perplexed as Tsunade suddenly laughed out loud and hugged Naruto lightly as the boy continued "Sheesh some ninja you are obaachan… you are almost as lame a Sannin as Ero-sennin is. I mean he did get poisoned by you so you probably are a little cooler but still pretty lame. I mean come on… blood." Shizune snickered as Naruto was again smothered in a fierce hug by the blonde Sannin.

That was when Jiraiya, who was somewhat jealous about all the hugs, made his presence known. "Hmm I think it's hemophobia brat… And while I'm happy to see you growing up and all that shouldn't you maybe cover yourself up before Tsunade-hime decides to deck you for flashing a couple of beautiful girls."

Several things happened simultaneously. Shizune giggled at Naruto who turned red and let out a "Gah." as he realized that he was only wearing his boxers as he dove for the cover of the sheets. Jiraiya let out a "Gah." as Tsunade's fist slammed into his stomach doubling him over, then he let out a "Guh." as the blonde Sannin continued with and elbow to the top of Jiraiya's head and yelled. "Pervert!"

After the pervert had been dealt with and Naruto was safely beneath his sheets Tsunade turned at the boy. "Now our discussion isn't over but I concede your point that it might not have been the wisest thing to do… but enough of that now. How are you feeling?"

Shizune giggled again as Naruto poked his ribs, his shoulder and then his gut where the Kusanagi had pierced him… when he got there a loud rumble was emitted from his stomach and the boy looked at Tsunade with eyes brimming with tears. "I'm staaarrrrviiiing…"

Jiraiya who was picking himself from the floor was about to say something but Tsunade beat him to it. "Okay brat… because I'm feeling jubilant due to your extraordinary recovery we'll go get whatever you want… my treat."

Her old team mate just snickered as Naruto beamed before shouting. "Raaaaameeeeen!"

Tsunade shrugged before nodding and thought. _-He's a pretty nice kid after all, considerate too… He could have asked for some quality sushi or something and all he wanted was some ramen.-_

Tsunade's smile had turned into a frown and then into a near tearful expression of abject horror as Naruto had polished off his sixth and seventeenth, respectively, bowl of ramen. Shizune on the other hand watched in amazement as the boy ate, ate and ate… and ate. After she finished her second, and last, bowl she turned to Jiraiya and whispered. "Where does he put all that ramen… it should be physically impossible to eat that much." Jiraiya just shrugged and smirked at Tsunade's expression as Naruto ordered yet another bowl of pork ramen.

-----

The following morning Jiraiya grumbled as the sound of yelling woke him into a slight hangover that was reminder from last night's celebration. He sighed in irritation as Naruto and Tsunade were facing off with both having their chopsticks on the same piece of fish. As he plopped down on the place next to Naruto the boy yelled. "Old hag… I need the fish because I'm a growing boy…"

He was about to say more but Tsunade cut in while tightening her grip on the fish. "Gaki… is that a respectful way to address your new Hokage-sama… hmm that sounds about like right Hokage-sama or maybe Tsunade-sama. Even Godaime-sama would do."

Naruto snorted and tried to tug the fish towards himself. "Hah… lets get some things straight here. I'm letting you be the 'Hokage' for the sole purpose of keeping the chair warm and the paperwork in order till I take over. So in fact you should call me Rokudaime-sama… besides what did I tell you about your blood pressure. As a mednin you should know that old people should avoid situations in which their blood pressure rises."

Shizune just sighed as the two blondes continued to fight over every piece of food on the table, never mind that there was more than enough of everything. The fight only stopped when Jiraiya patted Naruto on the shoulder and said. "So my boy… you mastered the Rasengan then? So what would you like to learn next… you need but to ask." The boy stared at him as if he'd grown another head so Jiraiya elaborated. "Well… I had a little bet riding on your ability to master the Rasengan too. And guess what? I won… I won a date." The old man began to sob. "A date with the epitome of beauty and the only woman in the all the shinobi countries who has resisted my manly charms and turned me down time after time."

Naruto, with a fishtail sticking out of his mouth, turned towards Tsunade and yelled at her. "And here I thought you had standards and then you go out with Ero-sennin…"

Tsunade just groaned and hid her slightly flushed face as Jiraiya began to develop a slight twitch before a sly smile crept across his face. _-Why not poke a little fun of the brat while we're on the subject of love…-_ He then ruffled Naruto's hair before asking. "So… have you written your sweet little Hinata-chan?"

Now it was Naruto's turn to become flushed as he was suddenly the two sets of critical eyes that were sizing him up. He stammered something as the two women began to shoot questions like "Ooh you have a girlfriend? What's she like? How long have you been seeing each other?" and so on.

Jiraiya, ever the gallant, took it upon himself to answer these questions and produced Naruto's photo album from his sleeve. "Ladies, ladies… I'll answer all questions in my apprentice's stead. Here have a look of a very cute moment these two shared in the aftermath of the recent Sound attack." The old pervert smirked as Naruto tried in vain to get his photo album back and smirked some more as the women giggled at the picture of the foxboy and Hinata snuggling while asleep. Jiraiya then patted his 'apprentice' on the shoulder again and said. "Have no worries my dear boy… despite the horrible slander you sometimes direct at me without thinking I'll help you when it comes the time to deal with her father. I do, after all, know Hiashi pretty well…"

At this Tsunade's attention was focused on the two males. "Hiashi?" She asked. "As in Hyuuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuuga clan?" As Jiraiya nodded fervently she smiled rather wickedly at the embarrassed looking Naruto. "You do plan a head brat… I mean deciding to become the Hokage and now wooing the daughter of the Hyuuga head. You'll go far as a ninja I think… I just hope you won't take up gambling."

Naruto just shook his head before saying. "Nah… no challenge there. I mean after Ero-sennin used all my money on sake and loose women I found a copper coin and decided to slap it in the machine. I won three times in the row and had my gama-chan full of Ryo."

Tsunade's eyes widened as she suddenly reached over the table and 'acquired' Naruto's froggy-purse, opened in and began to cry rivulets of bitter tears causing the boy to sweat drop as Shizune whispered. "She's had a little bad luck with gambling recently."

-----

Naruto was whistling a happy tune, sure he'd been almost ready to become a Nukenin when the debate on what he should buy as gift for Hinata had reached its peak. Naruto had been perplexed about the whole notion of buying a gift but Tsunade and Shizune had convinced him that it was expected. He'd then suggested some training equipment but the frosty glares he'd received had clearly conveyed that anything related to being a shinobi was out of the question. The debate had raged on for more than half a day as the women had dragged poor Naruto around the town and from shop to shop. Perfumes, treats, tea, stuffed toy animals and tee-shirts had been suggested and turned down until Naruto saw a nice cream coloured kimono with plenty of indigo and several rather intricate floral patterns.

The women had argued that, while nice and made from local silk that was renown around the ninja countries, the kimono was still most likely vastly inferior to that the Hyuuga wealth had procured for the heiress. Naruto had just shrugged and commented on how it would look nice on Hinata on some festival or the other… he was actually secretly hoping to take Hinata to the Tanabata festival that he'd never personally attended due to being the shunned 'demon boy'. Jiraiya had been interested in the idea, although with a little personal modification, and had promptly dragged Naruto to a very racy lingerie store… After he'd been pounded to patty by Tsunade the two women had finally settled on the kimono.

Naruto was still smiling somewhat about the events that followed. He'd been rather horrified at the cost but decided that it was worth it… luckily he'd been able to recuperate the losses at a gambling parlour where Tsunade had decided to gamble some. It had taken three hours before the 'Legendary Sucker' had stopped glaring at the boy who'd raked in cash after winning three out of four bets.

That had been two days ago and now they were only a day away from Konoha as they'd been making good speed. As they stopped for the night Tsunade suddenly asked. "So Naruto-kun… you grew up in an orphanage?" As the boy nodded the woman continued. "So… how about that we go to the archives once we hit Konoha and find out who your parents were? That is if you want to."

Naruto just nodded dumbly before giving Jiraiya a concerned look. The Gama Sennin just smiled and said. "Look Naruto… I know it's supposed to be a secret but she's the Hokage for pity's sake. Besides she needs to know anyway." The blonde mulled it over before pulling out a curiously engraved kunai and twirling it around his finger while looking expectantly at the old man who tossed his hands in the air and laughed. "Sure brat… I think it's time I get an update on your progress anyway."

Both mednins were rather mystified by this behaviour and watched as Naruto took off with a whoop of joy and ran some twenty meters away from their campsite before turning and lazily tossing the kunai in their general direction, enough on the side to be safe. The boy then simply disappeared before reappearing in a yellow flash… and a loud yell of "YEAAAAGH!" All the adults present blinked once to clear their eyes from the afterimage of the flash to see Naruto holding a kunai in his hand… from the wrong end.

Jiraiya simply covered his eyes and began to laugh as Tsunade rushed over to Naruto and, after bopping him on the head once for being so reckless, began to fuss over the wound. The boy simply brushed her off as the wound was very shallow and the yelp had been more from the shock than anything else. After he wiped the excess blood away the blonde reached for his pouch and produced a jar of salve that he generously applied to the wound. Both Tsunade's and Shizune's eyes widened as the wound healed right in front of their eyes… without giving the boy a chance to object they grabbed the salve and huddled together near the fire to examine it. Naruto just blinked a few times before shrugging and going over to Jiraiya and tuning out his lecture about how. "You shouldn't be such a show off…"

Some half an hour later the jar was tossed back to him as Tsunade said. "So brat… seems like you know who your parents were then?" As Naruto nodded Shizune cut in. "So are they Naruto-kun?" Now it was Shizune's turn to get bopped on the head, albeit much more lightly than Naruto or Jiraiya, as Tsunade admonished her assistant. "Shizune, Shizune how many times do I have to say 'Pay attention to the details!' if you didn't realize that the brat there showed us a pretty good version of the famed 'Hiraishin no Jutsu' and if you think back you would notice that he can do the Rasengan, not to mention that he's got blonde hair, blue eyes and a cheery demeanor."

Shizune blinked a few times as the pieces fell together in her mind, then her head turned towards Naruto in a snap while she asked. "You mean… the Yondaime and... and… Ayame-chan?" Naruto noticed that Jiraiya suddenly started looking very, very scared as he made several warding signs with his fingers and started to back away from Naruto very slowly. Shizune was still intently staring at him and asked. "Naruto-kun… you are the son of the Yondaime and Ayame-chan?" Now the boy noticed that Tsunade was backing away from her assistant and nodded nervously. "That means that… that…" The dark haired woman jumped across the fire and began hugging Naruto like a plushie as she cooed. "Aaah Naruto-kun… you are the dear nephew of my sweet Kakashi-kun."

Jiraiya and Tsunade sweat dropped as Naruto began to turn blue from asphyxiation while Shizune was hopping around the campsite like a little girl on a sugar high. With a wince of sympathy, as Naruto managed to draw a breath before being hugged tight again, Jiraiya turned to Tsunade and asked. "She's still not over it?" Tsunade just stared at the sight in horror before shaking her head nervously and saying "Seems not."

The following day they were up at dawn and started quickly towards Konoha with Naruto now rather relaxed around Shizune. Apparently the woman had calmed down after Naruto had promised to tell her everything about her 'Sweet Kakashi-kun' and she'd been very cooperative when Naruto had admitted that Kakashi was his sensei in addition to being his uncle.

-----

Sakura was having another bad morning on what was probably going to be a bad day. Sasuke hadn't woken up yet, the missions they got were no better than the usual D-rank missions they'd done before team seven's mission to the Wave Country. Not to mention Naruto wasn't around to cheer her up and now that he wasn't on the D-rank missions she began to notice that despite all the goofing up he'd done he'd also done brunt of the work. She sighed. _-Even Kakashi-sensei is away, always busy doing some crazy A-class missions and stuff because we are short on manpower. We got a day off and I can't even pick a fight with Ino-pig since she's like all 'Naruto-kun this' and 'Naruto-kun that'. Hinata is probably going to use the Hyuuga fortune to hire an assassin to go after her soon… I just wish the blonde moron was here… Aahhh isn't that Naruto?-_

Sakura suppressed the first urge to shout out as Naruto seemed to be keeping some weird company. An old man with white hair and creepy facial tattoos that somehow reminded her of Kiba, a dark haired woman who was practically hanging onto him and a busty woman who had 'hooker' written all over her. She frowned. _-What is that idiot doing now? Is that old man the pervert who writes Kakashi's books? OOH I'll kill him for this.-_ Suddenly 'inner-Sakura' gasped in horror as the dark haired woman gave Naruto a big hug and then sleazy one gave him a kiss on the cheek and then sent him away with a slap on the butt.

Sakura fumed as she watched Naruto walk away with a big smile on his face and was about to pounce on her team mate as the boy suddenly stopped and waved at someone. Deciding that her vantage point wasn't good enough Sakura used a tree as a springboard and jumped at the nearby rooftop. From there she could see the person Naruto was waving to and sighed. _-Oh great… just great timing Hinata. And there she goes getting all red on the face and poking her fingers together. And then Naruto will say something and she'll get even redder and then he'll touch her forehead to check for a fever and she'll faint.-_ Sakura paused momentarily as a image of Naruto molesting unconscious Hinata came to her mind. Both Sakura and her inner-self screamed **_-SHANNARO I'll kill him if he as much as looks at her.-_** Then she gasped as Hinata suddenly sprinted towards Naruto and jumped to hug him fiercely. _-Now they are hugging… and now they're talking and now… yes some kissing and is that her tongue?-_ Suddenly Sakura blinked _-Tongue? They're using tongue…-_ while inner Sakura yelled. **"Hot dang… what a Casanova."**

Naruto and Hinata were thoroughly enjoying the hug and the kisses afterwards when a loud yell of "Naruto you PERVERT!!!" shook them from the bliss. Naruto only had time to recognize the face of his attacker before a fist smacked right into his gut, followed by an elbow on the top of his head. Sakura was about to do more, like kick Naruto in the groin a few times for taking advantage of Hinata, when the girl in question managed to stop her. With an imperious smile she pointed at the dazed Naruto and said. "Hinata trust me when I say it… this sleaze bucket was trying to take advantage of you."

She pointedly ignored Naruto, who'd by this time picked him up from the ground and tried to object. "See Hinata, this miserable excuse for a boy was just getting some quality time from his little harem." Hinata's eyes widened as she shot a disbelieving look at Naruto who stared at Sakura as if she'd just said that the moon was made out of cheese. Naruto blinked several times and then fell with a thud when his pink haired team mate continued. "There was this brunette that was making all lovey-dovey eyes at him while hanging onto him and then there was this shameless woman with obviously fake breasts, dubious character and low moral standards who like kissed and groped him and all that. Not to mention there was this sleazy looking old man with tattoos under his eyes… I think he's a pervert who writes the infamous 'Icha Icha Paradise'."

As Sakura stopped to draw a breath she noticed that her speech didn't have a desired effect as Hinata was struggling to keep her mouth from twitching at the mention of the 'sleazy old man'. Naruto on the other hand had no such compunctions and he began to laugh so hard that tears came to his eyes. When he finally managed to regain his wits he smirked at Sakura. "Hehee… Sakura-chan I'm sure that the Godaime-sama would be interested to know that you consider her a 'Shameless woman with obviously fake breasts, dubious character and low moral standards'." He then winked at Hinata and continued. "You were right about all else except the fake breasts… I think they are real… at least Ero-sennin said they are and he's reputedly the only man alive who's peeped on her and lived."

Sakura scowled. "Oh get real Naruto-baka… there is no Godaime-Hokage and even if there will be she or he certainly won't be like twenty or something."

Naruto had to suppress another wave of laughter before he managed to say. "But Sakura-chan… Tsunade-obaachan is like reaaally old. He's as old as Ero-sennin or something because they were like team mates and the Hokage-jiisan's students and stuff."

Sakura's already grim visage darkened as she thought she was made fun off. "Look Naruto… no way was that Tsunade-sama who is one of the legendary three, who were Sandaime-sama's pupils. I mean she would have to be at least fifty and besides that old guy there…"

Hinata couldn't keep it down anymore and she began to giggle at the perplexed Sakura. "Ano… gomen Sakura-san but that man with white hair and tattoos under his eyes is indeed Jiraiya-sama. One of the Sannin, the Toad Sennin and…" She was cut off by Naruto who continued. "A super pervert by his own words, author of the best selling smut series 'Icha Icha Paradise' and all around disreputable person."

He then took Hinata's hand and said. "Tsunade-obaachan has a henge that helps her from escape from her gambling debts or something. But she really is the Godaime-Hokage as me and Ero-sennin… that's what I call the old lech Jiraiya, went to find her and bring her to Konoha to be the Hokage." Naruto nodded furiously as he began to get excited. "Yeah and you shouldn't piss of obaachan because she's like really strong for an old lady… she levelled a whole castle with one punch and man did she deck that bastard Orochimaru when he came looking for trouble. Yeah and I kicked his ass too, ripped off the jaw from his face."

Sakura, her anger now forgotten, and Hinata were both listening Naruto with and expression of wonder on their faces when a small whistle came from behind them. Naruto waved his hand and yelled. "Ah Kakashi-sensei… good thing I saw you first thing. I need to know where my new home is since you said that I had to move and stuff."

Kakashi was looking just as bored as he usually did and only lifted his eye from the small orange book to wink at Naruto before saying. "Mmmhh well I don't have the keys with me right now but Hinata knows where the place is so she can take you there. There's a spare key on top of the second beam to the right from the door… you should be able to find it pretty easily, especially if Hinata uses her Byakugan." The Jonin then turned a page on his book before asking. "So you ran into Orochimaru again? How did it turn out?"

Naruto practically jumped at the question. "It was totally awesome… First I had to fight this traitor dude from the Chuunin exams… you remember him right. The guy with the glasses and the weird info cards Yakushi Kabuto." Kakashi's eye narrowed slightly as Naruto continued. "At first we just got both hit and all that but then Orochimaru-teme summoned some big snakes and Gamabunta had to fight them and one almost hit obaachan but I got her out of the way… then the snake hit me to the ground and I broke a shoulder and couple of ribs that poked my lung so I sort of frothed at the mouth." Kakashi was now scowling behind his mask. "Then I took this Kabuto guy on and used this cool new jutsu I learned, the Rasengan, and busted his ass but for good."

Kakashi, his book forgotten, stared at Naruto with an eye filled with wonder along with the two girls. Then the boy continued. "Then this traitor Orochimaru comes along and tries to impale me with his sword but then obaachan jumps on the way and I sort of pushed her out of the way and uh…" He floundered with the words for a while. "Uh the sword sort of went right through here and out from here I think." There were five collective blinks as the others present sweat dropped as Naruto showed where the sword had been. "But then totally trashed him and had he not been so darn fast I would've decapitated him… but only got his lower jaw."

Suddenly Naruto was dangling from Kakashi's hand. "You moron… you trying to take someone on Kabuto's level is one thing but trying to take one of the Sannin on one-on-one is absolute madness."

Naruto just shrugged as he was being shaken and then gave a foxy grin at Kakashi. "Neh… Kakashi-sensei… I probably should warn you that there's a new Jonin in town and this particular Jonin is after your heart."

Kakashi just shrugged as he dropped Naruto and seemingly focused on his book again. "Well… that happens you know. I'm pretty famous and ranked pretty high in the Bingo book so occasionally some people come on and challenge me to make some name for themselves…"

Naruto's foxy grin turned wider as he commented. "But she isn't after your heart in that way… she wants to win your heart for herself." This drew Kakashi's attention and a slight snort from Sakura who obviously thought the whole thing as flight of Naruto's imagination.

Kakashi looked somewhat interested now, sure there were fangirls but most of them were not shinobi and those few who were, were not nuisances. A new player on the field could make his days bit more tedious but still, whoever she was, she'd give up sooner rather than later. Feigning disinterest he casually asked. "So… who is it?"

Naruto smiled even wider making Kakashi's sixth sense tingle. Then the boy made the single hand seal necessary for henge and transformed into a woman with dark hair and eyes. Sakura gasped as she immediately recognized the woman that had been hanging on Naruto. Kakashi, on the other hand, immediately backpedalled away from the likeness of Shizune who was now staring him with big eyes and a blush. Then the mednin's likeness yelled "Kakaassshiii-kuuuuun my daaarrliing love!" and jumped over to hug the frightened Jonin.

With a chuckle Naruto dispelled the henge and dropped down from Kakashi who was on the verge of having a apoplectic seizure. Raising a trembling finger towards Naruto the Jonin asked. "Shi… Shizune… she's back in Konoha? And she's not over her crush yet?" As Naruto nodded his sensei began to mumble. "I have to hide… I have to get home and lock the door and never come out."

Naruto put on a face of false apology when he said. "She knows where you live… and where you eat, shop for food and where and who you usually hang with." He then cried several crocodile tears before sobbing. "I'm sorry Kakashi-sensei but… I was young and I needed the free ramen coupons."

Kakashi wasn't listening for any apologies as he began to wonder out loud. "Hmmm maybe I'll hide out at Gai's… she'd never look me there. Gai was always begging her out on dates but she was too interested in me to give her the time of her day… that's what started his ridiculous challenges in the first place." Suddenly he became aware that he was ranting there, in the middle of the street and gave Naruto a harsh glare. "We'll talk about this later… I have to split… see you all." With that the Jonin disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the three Genin staring at the cloud.

It was Hinata who broke the silence. "Ano… Naruto-kun did you really get impaled by Orochimaru?"

As Naruto nodded she paled and then hugged Naruto fiercely while trying to keep tears from falling while Sakura nodded in understanding. "So that's why you were away for so long… you got so badly hurt and took most of the time lounging in some bed while recovering… Naruto you jerk!"

Naruto just tried to comfort Hinata and scratch the back of his head at the same as he looked somewhat sheepish. "Actually Sakura-chan… that was like four days ago."

The scream of "WHAAAAT?" startled birds from trees on a three block radius.

**TBC…**

Author's rant

Mkay… that's all for now folks.

A question that I have: Does anyone know what Gamabunta actually wields… I mean it could be tanto, or a wakizashi for all I know.

Well… other than that I should probably explain why this update is the first in only like 6 months. The reason, dear readers, is that my hard drive died taking with it 3 completed chapters (40k words) and the revised (Spellchecked, fixed the persistent vowedwowed issue and the whole oneechan/imoutochan with Akai) chapters 1-8.

Now this definitely sucks but when you think that I also lost almost 150gigs of other stuff. (Among that bunch of rare manga that's never been published in English and was a pain in the ass to find as scanlations.)

Anyway… the worst part was redoing this chapter. You have read the Yondaime Hoka… err the 4th rewrite of this chapter as they always sucked when I compared them to the dear memory of the original. As things were I was again trying to write during the holidays when the FFnet's email daemon finally woke from his long slumber and started shipping stuff back to us and lo' there was this diligent reviewer CRaZY TeDDy who reviewed every chapter and then asked for some more. So I finally snapped, whipped out the sixpack and then started writing, and writing, and writing.

Originally this chap was supposed to be the whole making the bet with Tsunade, then training some and fighting with Kabuto and Orochimaru but it seemed a bit too action oriented so I decided to add the whole return to Konoha into it to add some humour or something.

Well I hope it was worth the wait and I'll try to whip out the next chapter ASAP, which could be sooner or later depending on which way the mood swings.

Featured in the next chapter!!! Kakashi on the lam, Sakura on the rampage, Sasuke doing the emo thing and Naruto eating ramen. Will Hiashi walk in on our hero and Hinata? And what about Naruto's new bachelor crib... What horrors await Iruka who tried to blackmail Naruto before he left Konoha. And what about Konohamaru... and when will the winter start? I mean come on it's like January and it's raining water on the NORTH side of the arctic circle.

Regardless… Ta ta and happy beginning of the new year and all that.


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